As The Tide Changes
by DeadliestCatchFan
Summary: DEADLIEST CATCH FIC - Main character's are Jake Anderson and OC but a lot of the Hansen family too. Jake Anderson comes home from his first crab season and see's a beautiful woman waiting at the dock, who is she? And is it really possible to fall in love at first sight? Awful summary, story is better I promise!
1. Chapter 1

Untitled

Chapter One

Jake A (Flashback)

It was hard to describe how it felt to be coming home after his first season as a crab fisherman. Ever since he was thirteen years old he'd wanted to make it to the toughest, most brutal job in the world but after he'd fucked his life up big time by getting involved in drugs and drink he thought he had screwed everything up. But now here he was, standing on the deck of the Northwestern looking out to the blissful sight of Puget Sound ahead of him, he had made it, he was home. He'd always wanted to make his family proud and as they got closer and closer to the dock he could feel his emotions beginning to get the better of him. It had been such a tough few months but he'd made it and he was so glad to be coming home to share his success with the people he loved the most, his family.

'Sooo Junior….' Jake jumped as Edgar sneaked up on him, he liked to do that a lot, 'guess you're gonna be busy tonight?' Jake shook his head and laughed a little, now that they were almost home most of them had been talking nonstop about how they were going to pound their wives into the mattress when they got home, he didn't have anyone to pound into the mattress, well, he had a couple of people he could call to hook up with but that wasn't important. He'd been away from his family for so long and he wasn't ashamed to say he'd missed them, especially his sister Chelsea who he was closest too.

'Nah man, I've got some catching up to do with everyone, that shit can wait for a few days,' Jake shrugged as Edgar looked at him incredulously.

'Damn, when I was your age…'

'I've got responsibilities Edgar, now that I'm clean and I'm earning a good wage I'm the main breadwinner for everyone, I'm guessing by the time Chelsea's medical bills have been paid I won't have much left,' Jake shrugged, it didn't matter to him that he couldn't go out and spend his money on a new car or some flashy new clothes, he'd taken this job because it had been his dream and because he knew his family desperately needed the money to stay on top of things.

'I didn't know that things were that serious man,' Edgar placed a hand on his back and Jake shifted slightly, he hadn't had a serious conversation with Edgar before, with any of the guys actually. The only person that knew about his situation was his Uncle Nick, he didn't know how much he'd told the other guys but after Edgar's words he'd guessed that Nick had kept things private.

'It's not all bad, not now I have this job anyway, I'm really grateful to you….'

'Ah quit fucking thanking me Junior, you did pretty good out there for a Greenhorn,' Jake swelled with pride, any praise from Edgar was huge, 'just don't tell anyone else I said that okay? Especially not Sig, he'll think I'm going fucking soft or something.'

Jake was now pretty much on Cloud Nine, his deckboss had actually given him a fucking compliment and he was almost home. Edgar stayed with him out on deck as the boat got closer and closer to the dock.

'Ah jeeze, looks like we're gonna be here a while,' Edgar sighed as they stared ahead at the crowd of people waiting for them. Jake could make out his mom and dad from a good distance away and he started to wave, it was mid wave that his attention was drawn away from his parents as he spotted another face in the crowd.

It was her long, red hair that caught his attention as it blew out behind her in the wind. He watched her closely as she rummaged around in her bag for a few seconds before she pulled out a bright blue beret type hat that she put on to stop her hair from blowing everywhere, Once she had the hat on, her eyes seemed to gravitate towards him and before he could look away she was staring right back at him.

He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, his breathe caught in his throat as he continued to look right at her, it was almost as if he was daring her to look away because for some reason he couldn't. He had no idea who she was or why she was here, he'd never seen her before in his entire life, if he had he knew he would remember her because she was so beautiful, even from a distance he could see that.

'Junior….' Edgar waved a hand in front of his face and he was forced to look away from the mysterious woman. 'Don't just stand there, the season ain't over till this baby is anchored up with the engine off!'

Jake began to follow Edgar across the deck but he couldn't resist stealing another quick glance at the woman waiting at the dock, he could feel his cheeks beginning to flush when he turned to look at her and her eyes connected with his once again, he smiled a little but didn't wave, he didn't want to make it known to everyone that he was looking at her, after all he didn't even know who she was yet. He was just hoping that she wasn't related to any of the guys, that would be kind of awkward and more than a little frustrating to say the least.

He tried his best to concentrate on his job as slowly Sig manoeuvred the boat closer to the dock, as tempted as he was to steal a few more glances at the woman he didn't, he'd done a good job so far, he didn't want to fuck anything up at the last minute and make himself look like an ass in front of so many people, especially his parents.

Edgar kept a close eye on him as they slowly pulled into the dock and Jake jumped off the boat to tie it up, he could feel his skin starting to blush once again when he realised that the crowd of people were all looking at him, if they were looking then that meant that SHE was looking too.

'Nice job Junior!' Edgar jumped off the boat after him to check his work which was obviously okay since Edgar didn't correct it or yell at him, instead, after giving yet more praise to him, Edgar made a beeline for the family that he had waiting for him.

Jake followed suit and immediately began to look through the crowd of people to find his parents, after a few seconds he caught sight of them beginning to make their way past people to get to him and he all but ran towards them.

'Oh Jake it's so good to have you home! I've missed you so much!' His mother threw her arms around him and began planting kisses on his cheeks, he was definitely gonna lose man points for this with the guys but he didn't care too much, he was glad to see her and he'd missed her just as much.

'I missed you too mom,' he replied as he reciprocated the bone crushing hug that his mother had pulled him into. After a few seconds he pulled away to share a hug with his father who started to pat him on the back.

'I'm so proud of you Jake,' he nearly came apart at the seams when his father spoke, he'd always wanted to make him proud, to make his whole family proud and his father's pride was clearly written all over his face which made him feel like he was on Cloud Nine.

'Thanks dad,' he managed to whisper the words through gritted teeth, he was determined not to break down in front of so many strangers.

'Chelsea wanted to come but she's not feeling too good today so your sisters are at home keeping her company,' his mom smiled but instantly he began to panic.

'What do you mean she's not feeling well? Is it serious?' He asked and both his parents shook their heads.

'It's just a cold Jake, she's fine, we're all fine,' his dad re-assured him.

'So are we going to get to meet the guys you've been working with?' His mom changed the subject quickly, she was good at doing that but her being so quick to change the topic of conversation made him feel a little uneasy.

'I guess,' as much as he wanted to leave and get home as soon as possible so he could see his sister's he couldn't go anywhere without letting his folks meet the guys and he definitely couldn't leave without trying to talk to the woman he'd seen.

His eyes scanned the dock once again as he tried to find her, he could see the guys dotted around hugging and talking to their loved ones but he couldn't see her anywhere. In the process of looking around he caught Edgar's attention and immediately he started to signal for him to come over.

'Let's go see Edgar,' he wrapped a protective arm around his mother's waist as he started to lead them through a crowd of people over to Edgar and his family.

It was only when the crowd parted ways for him and his parents to get through that he found who he had been looking for. She was standing just behind Edgar holding a girl with long blonde hair in her arms, just one look at the little girl told him that she was a Hansen, he was just praying that the woman who'd cast a spell over him already wasn't.

'Hey Junior, this is my wife Louise,' no sooner had Jake stopped in front of them Edgar started with the introductions. His heart was pounding against his chest, why the fuck was he feeling so stupid and lovesick over someone he didn't even fucking know?

'Edgar told me a lot of good things about you Jake,' Louise smiled as she stepped forward to plant a kiss on both of his cheeks, he could feel that his cheeks were burning, not from the kiss but the fact that he knew he was being watched by the woman he daren't look at.

'Um these are my folks, mom dad this is Edgar, this is Louise,' he stepped back a little allowing his parents to meet his boss and his wife as he tried to keep himself together, he was well aware that he probably looked and sounded like a complete asshole to this woman, he'd never had much 'game' when it came to chicks and he certainly had no fucking game right now.

'This is Logan he's our youngest, this is Michael, this is Stephanie…' he snapped out of his daze in time to look up and see the beautiful lady walk forward and smile at his parents.

'I'm Maddie, the oldest,' as soon as she said the words his heart felt like it exploded on the spot, she was a Hansen, why did she have to be a fucking Hansen?

'Uh Junior, you feeling okay?' He swallowed hard and tried to look 'normal' as Edgar stared at him.

'Yeah, yeah I'm just a little um, overwhelmed I guess?' He shrugged, hoping that he wasn't making it obvious that he was desperately trying to avoid looking at his deckboss's daughter.

'Well you stay here and be overwhelmed, I'll take your parents to meet Sig so we can let them know what we REALLY think about you,' Edgar winked as he began to lead his parents over to the boat where Sig was standing on deck talking to a bunch of people.

'I'm going to go and keep June company seeing as Edgar and Sig are going to talk to your parents, won't be long!'

Jake just stood frozen to the spot as Louise took Stephanie out of Maddie's arms and guided Michael and Logan over to the boat, now he was fucking alone with her, what the fuck was he meant to say?

'Don't look so scared,' he had no choice but to look at her now, he could hardly keep staring at the ground, he didn't want her to think he was rude after all, as soon as he looked at her and she smiled at him he felt his heart begin to race all over again. From a distance he could tell that she was beautiful but damn, up close she was even better. She had the most gorgeous emerald green eyes, they seemed to draw him even deeper under the mystifying spell she'd magically worked on him. 'Dad said you did a great job out there, he's really impressed with you and believe me, it's not easy to impress a grumpy bastard like him!'

He smiled at her, for some reason the ability to speak had temporarily vacated, Jesus she would think he was such a fucking jerk.

'Are you sure you're okay? I know it's probably kinda freaky for you to come home and see so many strange people waiting to greet you, fuck it's strange for me to see SO many horny women here drooling over my old man!' She laughed and he couldn't help but laugh with her, fuck even her laugh was infectious.

'Sorry, I'm uh, er, a little shy I guess…Well not shy, I just wanna get home you know?' He bit down hard on his lip as he continued to look at her, he couldn't take his eyes off her even if he wanted to.

'I know, all this…' she looked around at the numerous people before looking back at him, 'can get a bit intimidating.'

'I er, I mean I'm not scared or anything like that, I just wanna spend time with my family you know? Now it looks like I'm gonna be stuck here for a while yet,' he sighed heavily, he was aware of the fact that he was coming across as a whiny bastard but he couldn't help how he felt. His sisters were waiting for him, one of whom was sick and hadn't seen him for a couple of months, his siblings were more important to him than any fan of the show but to keep his job, he couldn't really leave and he didn't have it in himself to be unfriendly.

'Don't worry, it won't take too long before you can get home to your girlfriend….'

'I don't have a girlfriend,' he quickly corrected her before she'd even completed her sentence. 'She's a HANSEN Jacob! Touch her and Edgar will rip your balls off,' he thought to himself.

'Oh well okay, sorry, I just assumed that you did for no reason at all,' she smiled at him again and this time he noticed the cute dimples in her cheeks, he wondered if she truly knew how beautiful she was. He was about to say something stupid again when Louise joined them out of nowhere, she was carrying a crying Logan in her arms and she had to shout above the noise to make herself heard.

'I'm so sorry about this Maddie but can you take Logan home for me? He really isn't liking being in a crowd and he won't settle at all,' Maddie instantly held her arms out and Louise placed Logan in her arms.

'It's okay, I'll meet you guys back at the house, it was nice meeting you Jake.'

'Oh um, it was good to meet you too,' he stumbled with his words again, in all honesty he didn't want her to go anywhere, he wanted her to stay right here so he could continue to talk to her but there was nothing he could do, she seemed to welcome the fact that Louise had interrupted their conversation, he'd probably bored her to death.

He continued to watch her as she walked further and further away from him, part of him wanted to run after her and ask for her phone number but he knew that he couldn't do that, if he did he would probably lose his job then his family would be in deep trouble.

Finding the strength from somewhere he finally turned away and focused his attention back on the crowd. If he'd waited another few seconds he would have seen Maddie Hansen turning around to look at him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh wow thanks guys for the reviews and the favourites and alerts on this story! In this chapter you're introduced a bit more to Maddie Hansen and this is all from her point of view, I will flit between POV's constantly as I think it fits the story better to do it that way. Hope you enjoy and please review to make me a happy bunny! Thanks xo**

Chapter Two

'Thanks again Donna, I'll see you in six weeks!'

Turning on her heel she walked out of the salon feeling like a brand new person, she really had needed something to cheer her up and having her hair done always seemed to do just that. She'd taken a half day off work to just relax and try and recharge her batteries after the stressful past few weeks she'd had.

Working for Child Protective Services wasn't exactly an easy job, she saw a lot of terrible things and she met some horrible fucking people that should never have been given the blessing of becoming parents but it was the job she'd always wanted to do, she knew what it felt like to be abandoned by one parent and somehow she felt like she had a connection to so many of the children she met.

She had been one of the lucky ones in many respects, her mother had given birth to her when she was seventeen years old and luckily, her father had faced up to his responsibilities, the same couldn't be said for her mother. Her mom had shared custody of her right up until she was five years old when she'd had enough, one day, she remembered it well, her mom had dropped her off at her grandparent's house and she never came back. She'd never heard from her again and she had no idea if she was now alive or dead, she didn't really care that much either.

If her father and his family hadn't wanted her she would have ended up in care, like many of the children she saw day to day through her work. It was a sad situation for many of them, she'd seen some horrific things in her time and she constantly thanked her lucky stars that she'd never had to experience what some of the children she came into contact with had experienced during their short time on the planet.

Every few weeks she would take at least a half day off to try and relax and unwind, the job was stressful and at times it was just the most depressing experience in the world but after a short break she always felt better.

After she left the hair salon she got in her car and decided to take a drive to one of her favourite coffee shops in the city. They made the best Mocha Latte coffee that she'd ever had and after sitting in a hair salon for over two hours she definitely needed her daily caffeine fix.

She managed to navigate her way through the heavy traffic on the roads without incident and pulled up outside the coffee shop half an hour later. She took a seat on one of the tables outside as it was a sunny day, a rarity in Seattle so she was going to make the most of it. Five minutes after sitting down a waitress came and took her order, she asked for a large Mocha Latte and a Tuna Mayo baguette, she hadn't eaten since breakfast and a carb fix was now needed.

Settling back into the chair she pulled out the book that she was trying to make her way through, a friend had lent her a copy of The Da Vinci code and she was determined to get through it, the problem was she rarely had the time to read. By the time she got home from work she was usually too tired to do anything but sit in front of the TV or put on her CD player and listen to some music to try and put the day's trials and tribulations out of her mind.

She managed to get through half of the first chapter before the waitress came back with her coffee and baguette. She was about to take her first bite of food when she happened to look up from her book.

In the distance there was someone she recognised, he wasn't all that close to her yet but she knew right away who it was. His face had been haunting her dreams for the past couple of weeks, ever since she'd seen him she had struggled to get him out of her mind. Deep down she knew damn well that nothing could ever come of her attraction to him, not when he was working with her father anyway, her dad was majorly over-protective when it came to the guys she dated, he always had been. And really, she knew fuck all about him, sure he was very attractive and he seemed nice enough but she'd only spoken to him briefly. She guessed that her feelings were nothing but lust, she hadn't had sex for well over a year and Jake was the most attractive guy she'd seen in a long time, she was pretty sure she'd get over the fact that she couldn't have him eventually but right now, as he continued to get closer and closer, she could feel herself beginning to tingle a little.

She kept her eyes focused solely on him, part of her hoped that he would just walk right by without noticing her but another part of her hoped that he did see her and that he would stop to talk to her once again. She'd left the docks pretty quickly and she felt guilty for leaving in such a hurry, he probably thought she was so fucking rude but at the time she'd needed to get away from him. She'd felt herself blushing and talking at one hundred miles an hour at him, she was never normally like that with guys, even with guys that she liked but with him something just felt a little different. She put it down to the fact that it was because he worked with her dad and her uncles, if any of them figured out that she had a little crush on their deckhand she knew what they would all say and how they would react, maybe she got a kick out of the danger of it all?

Within a minute or so Jake was within fifty yards of where she was sitting, it was only when he got closer to her that she could see he had a pained expression on his face and his shoulders were hunched over like he was in physical pain. His beautiful sharp blue eyes weren't as bright as they had been a few weeks ago and her stomach instantly began to churn, why did he look so sad and dejected? He was obviously in a world of his own so if he was to notice her, she would have to make the move. She didn't know where she got the confidence from but before she could stop herself she called his name, his eyes looked up from the side walk and instantly connected with hers, just like they'd connected when he came home. She noticed a small smile appear on his face and she gestured for him to come and join her at the table, she couldn't stop herself from sending him a beaming smile when he started to walk towards her.

'Hi there, I um, don't wanna interrupt you if you're busy,' he looked down at the baguette that she hadn't touched yet and she shook her head, offering him a seat which he hesitated to take at first.

'You're not interrupting me, I'd like the company actually, that's if you're not busy,' she hoped she didn't sound too desperate but even if she had, he took a seat opposite her.

'No I'm not, just had to get out of the house for a while you know?' He sighed heavily, now that he was close to her she could see the dark rings around his eyes, evidently he hadn't caught up with the sleep he'd gone without at sea yet.

'Is everything okay?' He looked up at her and their eyes met again, every time they did she felt butterflies in her stomach.

'It's hard to explain, plus I don't wanna bore you with my shit considering I barely know you,' he laughed a little, a nervous laugh she thought.

'It might be easier to talk to someone you barely know and anyway, I don't get bored easily, unless of course the problems you're having are about fishing then I would get bored, it's all dad and Sig fucking talk about,' she smiled and was pleased to see him smiling back at her.

'No it's not about fishing, it's about family, well my sister actually,' Jake shifted uncomfortably in his seat and she found herself having to hold back from putting her hand across the table and touching him.

'Look Jake, I know we don't exactly know each other, all I know about you is what dad has told me and that's not much, but just so you know, anything you tell me, it won't go back to anyone. You look like you need to talk and I'm willing to listen,' she replied, she wasn't sure if he was going to say anything or not and she wasn't going to push him. Just as he was about to speak, the waitress who'd taken her order came back to the table to ask if Jake wanted anything, he ordered a bottle of sparkling water and once the waitress disappeared once again, he started to talk.

'You know that I have a pretty fucking huge family right?' She nodded her head, her dad had mentioned something about him having five sisters. 'Well one of my sister's, Chelsea, she's sick, really fucking sick,' the pain on his face was crystal clear as he spoke about his sister, the need to take him into her arms and try to comfort him was becoming overwhelming but she knew that she couldn't do that, they were practically strangers after all.

'What's wrong with her?' She bit down hard on her lip after asking him such a personal question, she was meant to be letting him do the talking.

'She was born with Rheumatoid Arthritis and over the past few months, she hasn't been doing so good, she barely leaves the house now,' he shook his head and she could see his eyes fill up, without hesitation she reached her hand across the table and brushed her fingers against his.

'You don't have to talk about this if you don't want to Jake….'

'No I'm fine,' he shook his head and smiled a little at her, 'It's nice to actually talk to someone about this, I can't really say anything to my parents or my sisters in case I upset them you know? And the guys I work with wouldn't be comfortable with me whining to them all the fucking time,' he chuckled a little before brushing his hands over his eyes.

'You're not whining, everyone needs to have someone to talk to about difficult things, if you don't talk things will just build and build inside you until you explode,' she felt his fingers brush against hers as she spoke and she shivered at the contact, why the fuck was she shivering at the slightest touch from him? Was she officially going crazy?

'You sound like you're talking from experience,' Jake responded, out of nowhere the waitress came back to the table and put the bottle of sparkling water down in front of Jake before disappearing again.

'Sorry, I guess I'm used to seeing people blow up or breakdown all the time in my job,' she shrugged a little.

'What do you do?'

'I work for CPS, have done for the past year and a half,' she replied before taking a small sip of her coffee.

'Wow that's a job I could not do,' he said as he opened his bottle of water.

'Well I could definitely not be a crab fisherwoman, I can't believe the shit that you guys go through out there,' her admiration for crab fisherman was not a surprise considering her grandfather, father and two uncles had all done the same thing.

'Yeah well it's not a full time job though, you have to deal with shit every day, after a couple of months I get to come home and spend time with my family,' his face dropped again as soon as he mentioned his family, she knew he had a lot more to say but she didn't know whether talking about something so private right out in the open was a good thing.

'It sounds like you have plenty to deal with every day,' without looking away from him she rummaged around in her handbag, searching for her small notepad and pen which was hidden under all her make-up and paperwork in her Mary Poppins like bag. Eventually her hands found what she was looking for and she looked away from him for a few seconds so she could write her contact details down on paper. She wrote down both her home and cell numbers so he could contact her, she didn't feel bad about doing it, even her father couldn't prevent her from having friends.

She handed the paper to him and a smile appeared on his face. 'Can I borrow a piece of paper so I can give you my numbers?' Smiling back at him she handed over a sheet of paper and pen and she watched as he scrawled down his details.

'You know, if your dad finds out….'

'What's there to find out? That we have each other's contact details and we talk? There's no crime in that, it's not like we'll be hooking up for rampant sex every few days, that kinda might make my dad snap your dick in half,' she smirked when she said it but she knew that her dad would seriously lose it if he thought that she was sleeping with the man he affectionately called Junior.

'Not gonna lie, your dad scares the fuck out of me,' he replied.

'If he scares the fuck out of you now wait till I tell you about what he did to my first boyfriend, you'll so not want anything to do with me then believe me!'

'I don't believe you, I wouldn't have stopped to talk if I didn't think you were….Pretty cool,' she could feel the blush creep up on her skin and she cursed the fact that it wasn't a particularly hot or cold day as it would make it so obvious that she was blushing, even if it was obvious to him he didn't say anything about it which she was thankful for.

She spent the next hour sat outside the coffee shop with Jake, they talked about many different things from her job to his job to the kind of music and films they liked but they didn't talk about family, it was obviously an emotive subject for him and she didn't want him to get upset in such a public area, that conversation could wait until she maybe invited him to her place for coffee or something. Though inviting him for coffee would be pretty difficult considering she'd have to hold herself back from throwing herself at him and humping his leg like a bitch in heat.

She couldn't describe it really, she'd had crushes on people before, she'd lusted after people before but this….it just felt so different to her. She felt fucking giddy and excited like a kid on candy and yet she still hadn't known him all that long, surely it wasn't possible to fall in love with someone so quickly? She'd never believed in all that 'love at first sight' bullshit, she was a logical person and in her mind there was no way you could love someone at first glance, you had to get to know them first, REALLY get to know them.

Anyway, it wasn't even possible for her to love Jake Anderson like that, she could love him as a friend but nothing more than that, ever.


	3. Chapter 3

**Massive thank you's to all who reviewed and read the previous chapter! Thanks to wildviolet for teaching me the Amercanism's to perfect this one too! Hope you enjoy and please leave a review if you read it to make this girl smile! Thanks again! **

Chapter Three

He flipped the lid of his cellphone again and went to his outbox to read the message he'd last sent.

'Hey there, do you wanna go for a coffee and something to eat? I know a nice place down by the docks, Jake.'

Had he made it sound like he was asking for a date? Maybe he should have said that he needed to talk or something different, it had been over an hour since he'd sent her the message and she hadn't replied, he was beginning to think that he had scared her off.

He placed his cell down on the coffee table in front of him and decided to head outside for a cigarette, clinging on the phone and hoping that she would respond wasn't doing him any good, he was in full on lovesick puppy mode and if he didn't snap out of it soon his parents and his sister's would be asking questions, too many questions. He had no intention of telling anyone how he was feeling, there was just no point. It's not like he could do anything about the situation anyway, if Edgar or any of the Hansen's found out that they were meeting just for a coffee they would probably go nuts, if they entered into a relationship the chances were that he'd be out of a job and then his family would have no way of keeping up with all the medical bills that were flooding through the door. He had to be responsible and put his feelings for his deckboss' daughter to one side but that didn't mean that he had to stop talking to her or seeing her. He needed a friend, he needed someone to confide in and it just so happened that Maddie was not only a funny, intelligent woman, she was absolutely beautiful too.

He was so sure that he'd blown any chance of any contact with her after how much of an ass he'd made of himself after their first encounter. When he had heard her call his name just a few days ago his whole fucking body had trembled just because he'd heard her voice. Their second meeting had been so much better than their first, probably because he didn't have hundreds of people surrounding him. She wasn't like any woman he'd met before, most wouldn't have commented on the fact that he looked upset but she had, she'd wanted to know about him, to listen to him and figure out what was wrong. He just wished so fucking much that she were anyone else's daughter, it seemed like luck never smiled down upon him, he'd finally met someone that he was head over heels for only to find that he couldn't have her, not if he wanted to keep his job anyway.

After staring at his phone for another couple of minutes he decided to leave it behind and go outside for a smoke. Just as he was about to stand up his phone vibrated against the table and he immediately picked it up and flipped the lid to see that Maddie had responded to his message.

'Hi! I'm so sorry it's taken me a while to reply, I was catching up on some paperwork and left my phone on silent. I don't have any plans for the rest of the day, shall I meet you at this place that you know or is it easier for you to come pick me up?'

A broad smile appeared on his face as he read the message, he'd been panicking for no reason at all. He started to type a reply straight away but waited a minute or two before sending it, he didn't want to come across as too eager after all.

'It's probably easier if I come by and pick you up, problem is I don't know where you live, you don't have to tell me, you could head to a bar or something and I could pick you up from there.'

After sending the message he sat with the phone in his hands and waited for a response which came after a couple of minutes.

'Ermm unless you're trying to tell me in some weird way that you intend to stalk my ginger ass I think I can give you my address! It's 312 Second Avenue West, the apartment buildings are called the Archstone, I don't know if you know it, the zipcode is 98119 if you need to look for directions.'

Again he replied immediately. 'I know where you're talking about, I'll be there in 20 minutes.' He all but jumped off the couch and grabbed his car keys from the table so he could go and fetch her. He knew that he was taking a big risk going to her place but he had to see her, even if he could only have her in his life as a friend that was better than having no contact with her whatsoever.

With everything that had been going on in his life over the past few months he was desperate to talk to someone. A therapist would be the best idea but nearly all of his wages were gone already and he just couldn't afford to go to one every week, he didn't know Maddie that well but for some unknown reason he trusted her and he most definitely liked her, if she was willing to listen then he was willing to talk.

As he drove closer to her apartment block he could feel his pulse beginning to race at the thought of seeing her face again. She'd cast a spell on him as soon as he'd seen her and if he were wise the best thing to do would be to not see her again but he wasn't wise, he never had been and he saw no reason to start changing his ways now. As long as they were careful he was sure that they could keep their friendship a secret from everyone, he definitely did not what the Hansen's to know that he was confiding in Maddie and he had a feeling that Maddie didn't want them to know either. He already knew that Edgar had scared off some previous boyfriend's and he could guess that he wouldn't want Maddie hanging around with another crab fisherman, least of all someone who worked on his own boat. But as long as they were careful about where they met up, he was sure they'd be okay.

Half an hour later, after navigating his way through some heavy traffic and getting slightly lost, he arrived outside her apartment block. Luckily he'd found a place to park right outside the building so rather than texting her to let her know he was outside, he decided to go and fetch her. He took a good look around before he got out of his car to make sure that no familiar faces were nearby, he felt a bit like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, he just hoped Edgar wouldn't pop out of a bush and headbutt him before he even crossed the street. Fortunately, no Ninja Hansen appeared and he was able to quickly enter the building after someone going in before him held the door open, there was a security guard in the foyer of the building who eyed him up suspiciously as he passed by but he didn't say or do anything, just in case though he decided to not wait for the elevator to arrive and instead he took the stairs, had he known that her apartment was on the top floor he probably would have waited for the elevator. By the time he'd climbed the last step he was breathing heavily and sweating a little, he wasn't unfit by any means but the staircase was like an oven for some reason. He stepped out of the stairway and into a much cooler cream coloured corridor, he only had to walk about one quarter of the way down until he came to her door.

He ran a hand through his hair and tried his best to make himself look presentable before he rang the doorbell, he heard Maddie shuffling around then he started to hear her belt out a string of curse words, she definitely took after her father in the swearing stakes.

'Hold on a minute!' He waited patiently as he listened to her swear a few more times before he could hear her footsteps getting louder as she made her way to the door, he heard her keys jangling in the lock and not a moment too soon he was looking into her gorgeous green eyes again. 'Sorry about that, I went to pick up my stupid fucking flat iron and it was still on,' Jake looked down at her hands and could see right away that her left hand was burnt.

'You need to put that in some cold water right away, where's your sink at?' Jake immediately went into first aid mode, his sister's had had their fair share of mishaps when he was a kid and he'd taken tips from his parents in how to deal with minor injuries when they happened, a little burn was one of them fortunately.

He closed the door behind him and followed her into her fairly small apartment. For some reason he'd been expecting the décor to be quite modern and minimalistic but he'd been totally wrong. The lounge area was decorated in black and white patterned wallpaper and crammed into the small space were two bookshelves that were full to the brim, alongside the bookcases she had a small desk where her laptop was sat. When they got to the lounge they then turned right and Jake found himself in her bathroom, she evidently had a thing for black as the floor was covered in glittery black tiles.

'God this fucking stings like a bitch,' Maddie bit down on her lip as Jake reached over to the sink to turn the cold water tap on.

'This should take the sting out of it, do you have any aloe vera cream here? That'll help take the redness out of it.'

'Yeah I have some in my room, I'll go get it once I'm done here. My bedroom's an absolute fucking mess so I won't ask you to go find it for me,' she smiled at him as he stared at her, he couldn't help but stare. 'Why don't you go make yourself comfortable, you don't have to stay here with me, I'll be fine,' he fought to control himself as a wicked thought crossed his mind, an image flashed in his brain of her naked and lying beneath him and he mentally scolded himself for thinking about her like that.

'I can er, go wait for you in the car if you want?' The fresh air would do him good, at least he hoped it would.

'Well now that you're here we might as well have our coffee and chat here too, there'll be no one listening in and that way we won't run the risk of bumping into one of my insane family members, who I might add would kick the crap out of you if they saw you with me,' he couldn't deny that staying at her place was the safer option but damn, why the fuck couldn't he control himself from thinking erotic fucking thoughts about her now that he was here?

'Yeah er, that sounds good!' He grinned like a stupid idiot which made Maddie's red lips curve into a small smile, God she had nice lips, her other lips probably looked good too….

'Okay well the coffee is already out on the counter and there are some Krispy Kreme donuts in the refrigerator if you want something to eat,' Jake nodded and quickly left the bathroom before anymore lurid thoughts came into his head.

Since coming back home he'd been so busy sorting through bills and spending time with his family he hadn't had much time to even think about doing anything else like having sex, he still had the numbers of a couple of ex-girlfriends he could call if he wanted to get laid but a one night stand wasn't really his thing. He was at the stage where he wanted to settle down with someone, he wanted to move out of his parents place and be in a serious relationship but finding the right girl was difficult. Now that he had a job on the Northwestern he would be away a lot, not many women could cope with that. In a month's time though he would be on TV, the Deadliest Catch community would know all about him and judging by some of the things he'd seen whilst in Dutch, it wouldn't exactly be difficult to get a woman, just not the right sort of woman he wanted right now.

Trying to keep his mind occupied as different thoughts, all involving some adult situations with Maddie, swirled in his head he busied himself by making some coffee for the two of them. It was only when he poured it into cups that he realised that he didn't even know how she took her coffee. He made himself a cup and left Maddie's on the counter for her to add milk or sugar to it if she wanted, he liked his coffee strong and black and these days he needed plenty of it too considering he was barely getting two hours sleep most nights. He was physically and mentally exhausted from the past season but with things so messed up at home he couldn't hope to get any sleep, not until he knew that his sister would be okay and that every single bill had been paid. His family had stood by him through some dark times, he hadn't exactly been the perfect son in the past but now he had a chance to pay them back for everything they had done for him and he was determined not to let them down. Coming here to visit Maddie was definitely not the wisest move on his part but he so desperately wanted to be here, no, NEEDED to be here, he just didn't want to think about why as the only conclusion that he could reach was something totally ridiculous and crazy….

'You're not hungry then?'

Her voice made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, thank fuck nothing else was standing up right now.

'No, I had lunch before I got here,' he replied, at least he was now able to talk properly.

'Well that's okay, means there'll be more left for me, I can eat the whole damn box in a day. I did quit them a few months ago but a girl needs some sugar in her life,' Jake watched her intently as she walked into the open plan kitchen and pulled out the box of donuts from the fridge and took a few seconds to choose which one she was going to eat. 'It's a strawberry moment I think, something sweet to go with the third black coffee of the day,' she smiled before putting the box back in the fridge then picking up her coffee and picking up the donut to put it between her lips. She sat down next to him on the couch and chuckled a little as she pulled the donut from her mouth and shook her head 'sorry, my manners are fucking awful. This is what you get when you're brought up by someone as batshit as my dad.'

'You're uh, not expecting your dad to pay you a visit or anything are you?' Nerves crept upon him at the mention of her dad, he HAD to keep remembering that she was a Hansen, he could never forget that.

'Oh yeah I called him and told him you were coming here to rip my clothes off and take advantage of me in the worst way,' she smirked but he didn't respond. It might be funny to her but to him it wasn't a joke, he was genuinely terrified of Edgar. 'I'm sorry, I make smart arse comments all the time to lighten the mood, that one went too far. He never comes over here uninvited just in case he see's something he doesn't want to see. You're safe here and I won't be telling him anything about seeing you, I know how much this job means to you, I wouldn't do anything to jeopardise that.'

He gave her a warm smile and settled back into his seat a little after hearing her words. Granted, he didn't know her well but there was a genuine sincerity behind her words which resonated with him, her word was enough.

'How have things been at home? How's Chelsea doing?'

Jake looked up from staring down at his coffee to find her staring at him with a concerned look on her face. It was like someone opened the floodgates that he'd firmly shut for such a long time, without being fully aware of what he was saying or doing he just started to talk and couldn't stop. Every fear, every worry that had kept him awake at night he let her know about, he didn't hold anything back, he couldn't even if he'd wanted to. Emotions that he'd held down for so long had to come out eventually, she was the first person outside of his family members to sit down with him and be willing to actually listen to everything he had to say. He'd tried to talk with some of his male friends but they didn't really want to listen, they just tried to tell him that everything would be okay in the end but she didn't, she just listened which is exactly what he needed.

What had meant to be just a coffee and a quick chat turned out to be coffee, then another coffee, then a fruit juice, then having some dinner, until he eventually thought he'd better leave at just past nine in the evening. He'd spent half a day in her company but still he wanted more but he knew he couldn't stay. Deep down he also knew that the feelings he considered to be crazy might actually not be so crazy after all, he was falling for a woman he couldn't have.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks so much for the reviews! I love reading them and seeing what people think so please continue! I hope you like the upcoming chapter, it's a bit long I know, I couldn't seem to stop writing! Hope you enjoy and please review xo**

Chapter Four

'Maddie honey could you go get some more beers? Sig has drunk most of them already!' June shouted across the garden as she heard her Uncle Sig break out into laughter again, he was in his element at times like this.

A Hansen family BBQ was definitely not a short, sweet and quiet affair, it was noisy, loud and someone was guaranteed to throw a few punches before the day was done.

Her entire family were fucking crazy and far too over protective but she counted her blessings every day. If she was ever in trouble or if she just needed a hug after a tough day at work she knew that she could rely on her family to give her all the love she needed. Her dad and her uncles were pretty fierce most of the time but they had soft and gentle sides too, there would be no soft and gentle Hansen behaviour tonight though. Sig was already pretty wasted even though he was in charge of the BBQ, her dad was looking worn out as Logan and Stephanie ran rings around him and Norman was nowhere to be seen, big family get togethers weren't really his style, he was probably inside the house watching TV on his own.

'Maddie!' June calling her name again snapped her out of her daydreams as she went inside the house to collect more beers. Walking into the kitchen she found her cousins Nina and Mandy sitting at the kitchen table whispering to one another.

'And what are you two plotting this time?' Maddie had already guessed that they were talking about boys, the two of them all but jumping out of their seats when they heard her speak just seemed to confirm to her what their hushed conversation was about.

'Why does everyone in this family creep up on people in the middle of a conversation?' Nina sighed ever so dramatically.

'Might I suggest that if you want a conversation to remain private in this family that you do it behind a locked door? Talking in the middle of a kitchen that everyone has access to isn't really the brightest idea, especially if the said conversation is likely to be about boys,' Maddie grinned before opening the fridge door to pull out another case of beer.

'How much did you hear?' Nina looked guilty as she decided to take a seat next to them and try to find out what her younger cousins were discussing, if anyone in the family could help them when it came to dating, boys and the rest of the drama's that teenage girls went through, it was her.

'I heard nothing I swear! I'm just wondering if maybe you could use my help? I was a teenager once you know, hard to believe but it's true,' Mandy and Nina both looked at each other before Mandy elbowed Nina and widened her eyes.

'If I tell you have to promise not to say anything to anyone, not even Auntie Louise,' Nina said as she nodded before promising not to breathe a word of anything to anyone. 'Well there's this boy in school, Todd,' Nina smiled and started to blush at the mention of this boy's name, 'and like, out of nowhere, he's asked me out on a date this Friday!'

'And let me guess, you don't want your dad to find out about this date in case he brings out his rifle and chases this Todd guy away?' The Hansen men were entirely predictable when it came to situations like this, none of them wanted their little girls to grow up.

'I was going to tell you about this because I kinda need your help….'

'How about I tell your dad you're coming over to my place this Friday for me to help you with some of your homework, you can tell this Todd kid to come and pick you up at my place and he can drop you off there to, that way Uncle Sig doesn't have to know anything about this date,' no sooner had she finished speaking Nina had got up from her seat and thrown her arms around her.

'You're the best Maddie! I knew you'd come up with something!'

'Uh huh just promise me one thing missy,' Nina pulled away and looked worried, 'don't be giving away any of the goods on the first date..'

'Ew Maddie! If he even tries to cop a feel I am kicking him in the balls!'

'You're definitely a Hansen woman, I'm so proud!' Maddie laughed as the three of them started to make their way back out into the garden, if she didn't deliver the beers soon Sig would blow a fuse.

'I wonder if Jake is gonna show up or not,' Maddie tried her best not to react as Mandy casually brought up the name of the man she'd been thinking about pretty much nonstop since she'd met him.

'I hope he does, he's kinda cute don't you think Maddie?' She felt her skin blush as both her cousins looked at her, damn being pale and ginger!

'I guess he is, I hadn't really noticed,' she shrugged as she tried to play it cool.

'Why are you blushing Maddie?' Nina smirked.

'I'm choosing to ignore that remark Nina Hansen,' Maddie said as she walked ahead of her two cousins to put the fresh case of beer out on the table that June had placed in the middle of the garden right next to the barbeque that a tipsy Sig was still in charge of.

'At last! I'm nearly dying of fucking thirst here!' Sig pointed to the case of beer to which Maddie folded her arms.

'What's the magic word Uncle Sig?' She responded to his not so polite request for another beer.

'Now.' Manners weren't exactly a Hansen strong point, she could give as good as she got though, on this occasion however she decided to play nice and give in to her Uncle's request without a fuss.

Hearing that Jake had been invited to the party had kind of knocked her off kilter. He had her phone number but he hadn't forewarned her about his appearance, that's if he was going to come. She assumed that he probably would turn up seeing as the job on her families boat meant so much to him but then if his sister had taken a turn for the worse she knew he wouldn't want to leave his family. A week had passed by since their meeting at her apartment and the last contact she'd had with him had been a couple of days ago when she'd sent him a message asking if he was okay, he'd replied saying that things were fine but she had a feeling that they weren't. Maybe he just didn't want to talk to her, perhaps he regretted telling her so many things and he was afraid that she would spill his secrets to his new employers. She hoped he didn't think that, she hadn't known him for very long and she didn't know everything about him but even she could sense just how much his new job meant to him and his family, she would never do anything to jeopardise that for him.

'Come on up everyone, burgers are done!'

Maddie decided to avoid anything Sig had cooked just in case it reappeared later on, she'd spent half the night on the toilet the last time she'd eaten some of his drunkenly cooked food. Now that most of her family were heading over to the barbeque for food she took the opportunity to steal one of the empty chairs positioned by the small pool Sig had recently had built into his backyard. Just as she sat down she felt her cell vibrate in the pocket of her jeans, removing it she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up when she saw that she had a message from Jake.

'I've just pulled up outside Sig's place for this barbeque thing, are you gonna be there?'

'I'm already here sitting by the pool, don't be nervous, ring the bell and I'll come answer the door.'

Jake wasn't as loud or as brash as any of the men in her family, it wasn't a shock that he felt nervous and unsure around her crazy as fuck family. She knew he'd have to quickly learn to grow a much thicker skin to cope around the Hansen men or they'd eat him alive but she couldn't help but be drawn to his sensitive side, she found it alluring, too alluring.

After a few minutes had passed by she wondered whether Jake had changed his mind about coming to the party when she finally heard the doorbell ring. Her family were all still fighting over food as she yelled over to them that she was going to answer the door. Her legs were tempted to run but she knew better than to do that, whatever her feelings were for Jake, and she hadn't quite worked them out yet, she could not let her mask of steel slide.

Just before getting to the front door she stole a look at herself in one of the many mirrors placed around Sig's house, he was a vain bastard, not that most people would ever guess. She patted her hair in a futile attempt to try and tame the frizzy waves which she could never control and she wasn't particularly happy about the tiny red spot just under her nose but she had no way of trying to hide it, this was the best she was going to look. Taking a deep breathe she walked towards the front door and kept telling herself that she was being utterly ridiculous, she was acting like Nina or Mandy and she was too old to behave like a teenage girl experiencing her first crush, she had to control herself and snap out of whatever hold this man had upon her. She silently chastised herself right up until the moment she opened the front door and her eyes fell upon his face once again, his beautiful face.

'Maddie you're fucking drooling, stop drooling!' The voice inside her head corrected her as she stepped back from the doorway and plastered a goofy smile on her face.

'I'm so glad you could make it, you could have invited someone else along for some moral support you know,' Jake stepped inside the house and the smell of his cologne filled her senses.

'Well Uncle Nick's coming along later and you're here so I can cope,' he smiled at her, uch why did his smile have to look so fucking adorable? 'I um, didn't know what to bring with me so I brought a bunch of different things, I have wine, a case of beer, vodka, chocolates…'

'You didn't need to bring anything but yourself but the other's will be impressed, especially Sig, he'll probably drink all of that in under an hour,' she quipped after her cheesy comment.

'Guess I should stay away from any food he might have cooked then huh?' He smiled again, if only he knew what those smiles were doing to her.

Without replying she began to lead him through the house, if she were left alone with him any longer she feared what she might do, dry humping the poor guy would probably traumatise him for the rest of his life.

When they got outside her dad seemed to spot them immediately, it's like he could sense when a man was close to her and a warning sounded in his brain.

'Junior! You made it!' She decided it was best to take a backseat and let Jake find his own way, she couldn't follow him around looking all concerned and protective.

She went back to the seat that she'd left by the pool and got her phone out so she could distract herself, her eyes were tempted to remain on Jake but she couldn't risk staring at him the whole time, someone would notice if she did.

'Poor Jake, I don't think he knows what he's let himself in for,' she'd been so distracted by some stupid game on her phone that she hadn't heard or seen Louise sit down next to her.

'He'll be alright, dad thinks highly of him that counts for a lot,' she replied as Louise kept staring at her.

'He's a sweet boy, handsome too,' she commented, oh God had she made it that fucking obvious that she had a silly crush on him?

'Do I need to be worried about you having an affair with him?' She made a joke, something she always did when she felt a little uncomfortable.

'I don't think I'm his type honey, he might prefer redheads,' Maddie could feel her cheeks beginning to flush again, she could hide things from her dad easily enough but Louise, she could always read her like an open book.

'Okay, I am going to walk away and pretend I didn't just hear you say that,' this was another move she always made when backed into a corner, rather than make excuses or flat out lie about how she was feeling she just removed herself from the conversation.

It was hard for her because under normal circumstances she would be discussing her feelings with Louise, she wasn't her biological mother but she had been in her life since she was six years old so as far as she was concerned she WAS her mother, despite what any DNA would say. Any problems that she had regarding men she had always been able to go to her but not this time, she had to figure out this Jake thing on her own.

After grabbing herself a bottle of water from the table she looked around the garden to see where she could go. Logan and Stephanie were sat in the middle of the lawn playing some sort of game and she decided to go and join them, if anyone could distract her from the awkwardness it was her younger siblings.

Her brother and sister were the cure she needed to forget about what was going on around her. After playing a game of I Spy she then spent a great deal of time hunting them down in several games of Hide and Seek. When they'd finished the last game both of them were visibly tired and without bothering Louise or her father she took them up to one of Sig's guest bedrooms and read them a couple of stories before she tucked them in for the night.

By the time she got back downstairs the party had kicked up a notch, Matt, Nick and their wives had arrived as had a few of Sig and June's other friends. Normally she would be the life and soul of the party but tonight she just felt drained, work had been pretty stressful and seeing Jake had just confused her all over again.

She was debating on whether to leave the party quietly or not when the man that was making her feel all weird and stupid decided to come up to talk to her once again.

'You were right, I think Sig finished that bottle of vodka I brought in less than an hour,' he smiled as her insides started to feel like jelly once again.

'He's gonna have the hangover from hell in the morning,' she smiled back as she tried to gather herself.

'I kept away from the burgers and hot dogs too, I need the recipe of those bun things though, they were delicious.'

'I'm glad you liked my sticky buns!' Without thinking she blurted it out, what the fuck was wrong with her?

'Yeah, they were nice….Not too….sticky,' they glanced at each other and both started to laugh at the same time, it was a childish thing to laugh over but at least it broke the tension and made her feel a little more at ease.

'Sorry, this whole set up has been kind of awkward, I wanted to talk to you but being surrounded by family….'

'I know, the only reason I didn't tell you I was coming was because right up until the last minute I wasn't going to show but I thought I better had.'

'You should take the invite as a really good sign, Sig obviously thinks a lot of you,' I do too, she thought to herself.

'I hope so, the job means a lot…Sorry, you know that already, I don't wanna bore you all over again!' He smiled nervously.

'You didn't bore me, not at all,' the urge to hug him was almost becoming too much to bear, she couldn't understand why she was feeling so fucking much for someone she barely knew.

'That's good to know,' he smiled before looking around, 'I feel like people are staring at me while I'm talking to you.' He laughed a little as Maddie looked around too, no one seemed to be looking at them, not now anyway.

'If my dad thought that anything untoward was going on believe me, he'd already be here questioning us both. We're not doing anything wrong, just because you work for my family it doesn't mean we can't be friends,' her comment seemed to help as he visibly relaxed a little and stopped looking so guilty.

'You're right I guess most people assume that men and women can't just be friends. I'm just used to being around women, I know I need to toughen up my emotions a little if I wanna succeed as a crabber.'

'You don't have to change your whole personality to succeed though, you just need to find a healthy balance for your emotions, you don't need to turn into a different person or be like my dad and Sig to do well,' now she could feel eyes upon them. She looked over at her father who was now staring back at her, she should have known better than to think she would be able to talk to Jake for more than five minutes without her own security guard taking an interest. 'Don't look but my dad has spotted us, I think we'd better split up before he comes over to interrogate us.'

'Okay, um, are you busy tomorrow?'

'No I'm not, I'm free all day. You can come over for another coffee if you want,' she didn't smile at him, if she did her dad would assume she'd just had an orgasm or something.

'That'd be nice, I'll call you tomorrow,' Jake gave her a very quick smile before he turned around and headed over towards Nick. As soon as he had left her side her dad made a beeline for her, she knew that he would.

'You and Junior seemed to be getting along well,' he raised an eyebrow which was never a good sign.

'Yes dad he's a nice guy, no dad I am not planning on having sex with him,' she folded her arms across her chest and sent him a glare that he had seen a million times before.

'I remember you saying the same about another crabber….'

'Oh God dad please stop bringing up something that happened ten fucking years ago! I kissed Josh Harris to piss you off and it worked but no, I did not sleep with him!' She rolled her eyes at him, somehow she and Josh had ended up at the same house party years ago, she'd told her dad that she was staying at a friend's house to study and of course he'd found out about the stupid fucking party. She'd seen him arrive before he saw her, being a little drunk and pissed at her dad embarrassing her she'd grabbed Josh and started to make out with him knowing full well what kind of reaction her dad would have. It was pretty dumb and Josh was lucky not to have been punched in the face but nothing more had ever happened between them. She saw him from time to time, he'd slept with a few of her friends and if he could he would probably sleep with her too but that would never happen.

'I'm not arguing with you Maddie,' he put one of his hands on her cheek and moved closer to her, 'I just want the best for you.'

She sighed heavily, she'd heard this so many times before. She knew that he was only trying to protect her but at times it felt like she was being smothered, it was her life, not his.

'Everything okay here?' Before she could respond to her father's words Louise came over, she'd probably seen everything that had happened and before an argument could break out she'd decided to intervene.

'Everything's fine, we're just doing the whole father daughter bonding thing,' her dad shrugged as he tried to look innocent.

'Hmm I'm sure you were, come on Maddie, come have a drink with us,' Louise didn't buy what her dad was trying to sell, she knew him too well. She was grateful that she'd intervened before she'd had a chance to respond to her father's words, they would never see eye to eye on certain things and men were right at the top of the list.

She followed Louise and joined the rest of the women to chat about fuck knows what. She tried to listen and join in but she wasn't really interested in what they were saying, all she could think about was that Jake was going to visit her tomorrow and she couldn't wait to have some time alone with him again. If she were wise she would try to stay away from him and forget all about him but she couldn't do that, there was something pulling her towards him and she didn't want to back away even if that was the best thing for her to do. She'd never been in love before so she couldn't be sure that what she felt for him was love but she felt something, something different anyway.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks once again for all the reviews for the previous chapter! Hope you enjoy and please keep them coming in! :) **

Chapter Five

'You look nice honey,' he'd just finished fixing his hair in front of the bathroom mirror when his mother walked in, he knew he should have closed the door, now he was going to get grilled. 'So what are you doing today?'

'Oh I'm just meeting up with some friends for dinner, I probably won't be back till tonight,' living with his parents had its good points and its bad points, constant questions about where he was going and what he would be doing definitely belonged on the negative list. 'I'll see you later mom,' he gave his mother a kiss on the cheek and tried to make a quick exit before anymore questions were asked but of course his mother pulled him back.

'Jake I know things are difficult right now and it's been so hard on you, I just…..I don't want you going back to your old ways again, if you're meeting some of your old friends….'

'Mom no,' he shook his head before walking back towards his mother so he could give her a hug, 'I promise you that I am not slipping back to the person I was back then, I wouldn't do that to you, not at a time like this.'

He could see from the expression on his mother's face that she wasn't convinced by what he had to say, the only way he could give her any comfort was by telling her who he was going to meet, he didn't want to do it but he didn't really have any other choice. Lying to his mother was something he'd done in the past and he didn't want to start doing it again.

'Do you remember Edgar's oldest daughter, you met her when I came home, her name's Maddie,' his mother nodded and looked at him quizzically. 'I've met up with her a couple of times, not because we're dating or anything like that, I just….I just feel like I can talk to her about everything that's going on right now you know?'

'I don't understand Jake, why didn't you tell me about this before?'

'She's a friend, I didn't see any reason to tell you, plus I know how your mind works mom,' he replied as his mother raised her eyebrows.

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'You're constantly trying to set me up with dates, dropping hints about me getting married and having my own kids, I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want you to think that there was anything going on between us when there's not.'

'Well if you're so adamant that nothing is going on why all the sneaking around, I don't like being lied to Jake…'

'I know and that's why I've decided to tell you the truth! She's my bosses daughter and my boss just happens to be fucking crazy, he's so protective of her mom, if he found out that I was spending time with his daughter even as a friend he would go nuts. I can't lose this job, you know that as well as I do, if I do how are we gonna pay the bills that keep flooding through the door huh?' He instantly regretted his decision to mention their financial situation when he saw the tears pool in his mom's eyes.

'You shouldn't have to be the one worrying about that Jake, I know we're relying on you too much…..'

'Mom stop, don't get upset,' he held her hands and kept looking at her, 'I don't care about the bills, I don't care if I have to work every day to make sure we get through this because I love you all. I just need some space every now then so I can get things off my chest, just please, don't say anything about Maddie, if word gets back….'

'I won't say anything, why would I say anything if she's just your friend? And she is just your friend, right?' She stared at him, he was sure that she could sense that his feelings for Maddie were a lot stronger than he would admit but he'd said all he needed to say, he wasn't going to confess just how much he wanted her.

'Right,' he smiled, 'I'd better go, Maddie's expecting me, I don't wanna be late.' He hadn't actually agreed a time to go to her place but his mother didn't know that, he needed to leave before she could ask anymore awkward questions.

He gave her another kiss on the cheek before he quickly made his way out of the bathroom and down the stairs to leave the house. On his way to the car he sent a quick message to Maddie telling her he was on his way, just as he sat down in his car his phone beeped with a reply from her.

'Cool! See you in a few!'

Starting up the car he proceeded to drive to Maddie's place as memories of last night replayed in his mind.

He'd noticed Edgar going over to Maddie straight after he'd left to join a conversation Nick was having with Matt and Sig. He'd glanced over a couple of times and Maddie hadn't looked too happy with her father, he felt guilty because he was sure Edgar had approached her because he'd talked to her but what was he meant to do? If he completely ignored her that wouldn't look too good but then if he spoke to her for even more than a minute that didn't look good either! He knew that the Hansen's were tough and sure he could understand a father wanting to protect his daughter but she wasn't a young child anymore, Maddie had a mind of her own. He would never say anything out loud but he was kinda pissed at the whole situation. He didn't think for one minute that Edgar and her Uncle's would be so overprotective of Michael and Logan when they started to date, in fact they'd probably be encouraging them! But because she was a woman it was different and he didn't think that was fair, no doubt she thought the exact same thing.

After driving for half an hour he finally pulled up outside her apartment block and went through the same routine as last time, he checked that no one familiar was lurking nearby and when he saw that everything was clear he got out of his car and made his way into the building and up to her apartment. Taking the elevator meant that he wasn't breathless and sweaty this time so unlike the previous week he didn't wait to knock on her door.

He heard the chain being unlocked a minute after he'd knocked and a huge smile crept on his face as he came face to face with her once again.

'Hi there! My flat iron's and I did not have a fight this week so you don't have to play doctor,' she smirked as she stood back to let him in.

'How's your hand feeling now? Better I hope,' he replied to her comment.

'Much better thank you, I've made the coffees already and I've put a chicken in the oven for dinner, I hope that's okay?' Jake nodded.

'You didn't need to go to any trouble you know,' he followed her over to the kitchen counter where she handed him his cup of coffee.

'Oh it's no trouble, I love to cook,' she smiled before walking over to the couch to take a seat, he followed and sat down next to her.

'I um, I hope I didn't get you into any trouble with your dad last night, I saw him talking to you,' he had to ask what had happened.

'You didn't get me into any trouble, I just wish that he would stop interfering with my life, was your dad like this with your sister's?' Jake shook his head before setting his coffee down on the table in front of them.

'He was pretty good to be honest, don't get me wrong he wanted to know where they were and who they were seeing but he didn't interfere. Mom was good with the girls too, she is really, really picky when it comes to my love life though,' he rolled his eyes.

'Hmm it sounds like my dad and your mom would make a pretty formidable pair. I mean don't get me wrong, I love my dad to fucking pieces but I'm so sick of him trying to tell me what I need and what sort of a man I should have. Even if I did find myself a doctor with an amazing reputation I still know that he would find some flaw to pick at, he's totally fucking impossible!' She sighed whilst shaking her head.

'In his eyes no one will ever be good enough for you, it's the same with my mom, not that it stops her from trying to set me up with her friend's daughter's, she's desperate for me to do the whole marriage and kids thing,' he moaned.

'And the whole marriage and kids thing isn't for you?' She asked.

'Oh no I want to get married and have kids one day but I'm not being forced into it, plus it's gonna be tough to find someone now that I'm gonna be out fishing for long periods of time,' he shrugged before taking a sip of his coffee.

'Oh believe me you won't find it tough now that you'll be on TV! You'll have hundreds of women queuing up to be Mrs Anderson!' She laughed as Jake shook his head and groaned.

'Man some of the fans are fucking crazy!' He laughed.

'Tell me about it! I don't know how Louise and June manage to hold back from punching some of the fuckers right in the face, so many of them have just blatantly stood there flirting with dad and Sig in front of us! I've had to bite my tongue so many times, it's just so fucking rude!'

'It must be pretty rough on them, I mean they have to deal with their husbands being away for so long and now they have to deal with fans and their guys going away to do promotional stuff for the show all the time,' he wasn't exactly looking forward to having to do media stuff, he was pretty shy and he dreaded some of the questions that he might be asked.

'It is tough on them and the kids, it's tough on dad and Sig too though, they miss out on so much stuff when they're away.' She sighed heavily and looked a little sad, deciding that it was his turn to learn more about her he took the lead in the conversation.

'You had it tough too, I'm guessing your dad missed out on a lot when you were growing up?' He asked and she nodded.

'Yeah he did. I had my grandparents and Louise to support me but there were times I really needed him, I knew that he had to work and that if he could he would have stayed at home. I think that's why he's so protective of me now, he missed out on huge chunks of my childhood and he feels guilty. He has nothing to feel guilty about though, at least he faced up to his responsibilities and didn't just fucking abandon me like my mom did.'

'I can't understand how anyone could do that, no offence but your mom sounds like a bitch,' he responded.

'Oh she was, not that I remember that much about her. She was a party girl you know? She dropped out of school when she was sixteen and left home to travel around, she met dad at some house party one night then a couple of months later she came looking for him at the docks to tell him she was pregnant, my grandparents were absolutely fucking furious with him for getting some random chick knocked up,' she began to pick at her nails as she spoke to him, he didn't know whether it was a nervous thing or just something she was doing without thinking.

'What did your dad do when he found out?'

'He wasn't sure that she was telling the truth at first but he made sure she had a place to stay and helped pay her rent, he says that when I was born and he saw me for the first time he knew that I was his for some reason,' she smiled warmly. 'He had a DNA test done though just to make absolutely sure. He worked his butt off on the boat to make sure I never went without anything and he saw me whenever he could. When dad was away she would take care of me during the week and my grandmother would have me at weekends then when dad was home he would take care of me until he had to work again, it carried on like that until I was five and she decided she'd had enough. I think she met some guy who wanted to take her to LA and make her a star, for that to happen she couldn't take me with her so she left me with my grandparents, it was the best thing she ever did for me.'

'And you haven't heard from her since?'

'Nope,' she shook her head, 'Clare never made it in Hollywood though I know that much. As far as I'm concerned Louise is my mom, I was seven when dad met her for the first time and she's always treated me as her own, I was very lucky,' she smiled.

'So if Clare ever contacted you again what would you do?' She stared at him for a few seconds before coming up with an answer.

'I don't know, I mean part of me would wanna slam the door in her fucking face and tell her to fuck off but then another part of me wants answers you know? Not that any answer she could give me would suddenly make up for abandoning me like she did. She gave birth to me and gave me a ridiculous name, that's all she ever did for me,' Jake looked at her with confusion.

'Madison isn't a ridiculous name,' he replied.

'Maddie is not short for Madison, you have to swear to me you won't laugh or make any jokes if I tell you,' he crossed his heart and tried not to smirk at her. 'It's short for Madonna.'

He bit down on his lip and fought to stifle the laugh that threatened to erupt.

'Well with a name like that you should be on the cover of Vogue but then you'd have to tell your papa not to preach,' Maddie playfully shoved him but had a smirk on her face as she did it and he let go of his laughter which he'd fought to hold back.

'You jackass! For that little quip you can peel the potatoes that we're having with this chicken!'

'Yes ma'am,' he did a mock salute as Maddie shook her head before starting to laugh herself.

He was so comfortable in her presence now, the nerves he'd felt during the previous meetings were gone and he was just happy to enjoy being in her company and to share his story with her whilst also listening to hers. The problem with the girl's he'd dated before had always been the fact that he'd never felt comfortable enough to be completely honest with them about his life and his feelings, with Maddie he could tell her anything and he somehow knew that she would understand and not judge him.

Ever since he'd got himself clean and sober a couple of years ago he'd wanted to meet someone that he could settle down with and now he'd finally found her. He wasn't going to deny what his feelings were even if they had formed so quickly, he was in love with her, he was in love with a Hansen.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks all for the reviews! Sorry that this has taken so long to update once again! I promise to try and speed my slow ass up a little! Hope you keep reading and enjoy, thanks again! **

Chapter Six

She was right on the verge of sleep when the creaking of her bedroom door being opened made her open her weary eyes ever so slightly. The intruder shut the door behind them and the patter of their little steps came to a stop when she felt a warm body climb into bed alongside her.

'There's a monster in my room,' she turned over in bed and came face to face with her little sister who immediately cuddled up to her.

'Stephanie sweetie there's no such thing as monster's, come on, I'll prove it to you….'

'Nooo! I wanna stay here with you!' She sighed as her sister held onto her arm even tighter, it was just past eleven in the evening, not late but she had to be up at five thirty in the morning and she needed all the sleep she could get. Rather than spending precious time arguing with her it was just better to let her have her own way tonight, she was far too soft on her brothers and sister. 'Okay missy, you can stay here tonight but only for tonight!'

'Thanks sis!' Stephanie loosened her grip and planted a kiss on her nose before snuggling in with her under the blankets.

With her dad being away for Opie Season she always came to stay with Louise and the kids to try and help out as much as she could. Despite the interruptions at night time which happened every now and then she loved every minute of being back home. She had moved in just before Christmas in time to help out with the cooking, cleaning, decorating and present wrapping. Dad had left for Dutch just before New Year's Eve along with Sig, the rest of the crew had been up in Dutch for a few days before them preparing the boat and doing last minute repairs for the upcoming season.

She was used to saying goodbye to her dad and her uncle's by now but that didn't mean that her fears and worries went away. She knew how dangerous the job was and every time she said goodbye she knew damn well that there was a chance she wouldn't see her loved ones again but she had to be strong. This season though it wasn't just family members that she was worrying about, she had Jake to worry about too.

Over the past couple of months their friendship had grown stronger, he'd visited her apartment and spent his Saturday's with her on a regular basis. Sometimes they'd go out together for lunch or just for a coffee but they had to be careful, they didn't want to be spotted by anyone who could make trouble for them with her family. With each visit her feelings for him had continued to grow stronger and stronger. She'd thought about pulling away and trying to forget about him, hell she'd even thought about leaving Seattle but she couldn't do it. The last time she'd seen him had been the day before Christmas Eve, she'd arranged to meet him at her apartment so they could see each other before he left for Dutch Harbour.

They'd spent just a couple of hours together talking mostly about the upcoming season and how nervous he was about it. She knew just how tough her family could be whilst they were at work but deep down she knew that he would do a great job, how could he disappoint anyone? He really didn't know how attractive he was, inside and out, that lack of vanity and arrogance just made her want him even more than she already did. It still brought a smile to her face when she thought back to their gift exchange just before she'd had to say goodbye to him.

Resting her head against the pillow she wrapped an arm around her younger sister and smiled to herself as she let her mind drift back to that day, to that moment.

'Okay so I know you said that I shouldn't get you anything but,' she watched as Jake pulled out an envelope from the pocket of his jacket and handed it to her, 'I had to.'

'Well since I guessed that you probably would ignore my request,' she got up from the couch and walked over to her computer desk where she opened one of the drawers and removed the presents she'd bought for him 'so I decided to get you a little something too.'

Jake smiled warmly as she took a seat next to him once again and they exchanged gifts. She'd taken so long to decide what to get him, she just hoped that what she'd eventually decided on would be okay.

She watched him open the first present as she wanted to see his reaction. After struggling for a minute or two with the well wrapped gift he finally pulled the paper off and pulled out the thermal under garments that she thought would keep him warm whilst out on deck.

'Oh man these are like the best you can get! I can't take these, I know how much they cost!'

'Of course you can take them! I'm just glad you like them, I know it's not the most exciting gift in the world….'

'It's really thoughtful of you Maddie, thank you,' he gave her a stomach tingling smile which almost made her lean forward and kiss the life out of him but she didn't. Instead she looked down at the envelope he'd given her and started to open it. She was well aware that he was watching her as she pulled out a gift card and read where it was from.

'Oh Jake this is wonderful!' She was delighted to see that he'd bought her a day of treatments at a local spa, she worked such long hours and got so stressed at times that a day of facials and massages would be complete heaven.

'I thought that it would be nice for you to just spend some time alone and relax you know? If you go on their website you'll be able to see what treatments you can get and the dates you can go,' this time she couldn't stop herself from leaning over and pulling him into an almost bone crushing hug. Usually her gifts from men consisted of perfume, chocolates or books, this was definitely one of the best and most thoughtful gifts a man had ever bought her.

'Thank you so much Jake,' as she went to pull away she pressed a quick kiss on his cheek which took him by surprise as he looked a little flustered for a second or two.

He quickly recovered enough to open the second gift she'd bought him, a book called 'How to be Assertive in any Situation'. If there was one thing that Jake lacked it was the ability to stand up to her relatives and give as good as he got, she knew that he almost hero-worshipped her father and that was fine but he definitely needed to learn how to stand up to him and make sure he wasn't going to be pushed around too much.

'I am definitely taking this with me and reading it every chance I get,' he smiled before he quickly wrapped his muscular arms around her.

She let her head rest against his shoulder as she took in a deep breathe so she could get lost in his smell, she closed her eyes briefly and tried to bite back the tears that she desperately wanted to spill. She knew that this could be the last time that she saw him, she thought the exact same thing everytime she said goodbye to her father and uncles but she had to keep it together.

Their hug lasted for much longer than it probably should have but she didn't care. Now as she lay back in bed and drifted off to sleep she thought of him and the moment that they'd shared that day. In the land of her daydreams she stirred briefly as the phone began to ring, she knew that it would be her father calling to check in on how everyone was doing so she chose not to open her eyes. She felt Stephanie stir against her and wrapped her free arm around her sibling to try and coax her back to sleep.

She didn't know how long it took between the phone ringing and then someone gently opening her bedroom door. She heard footsteps walk around to her side of the bed and as soon as she opened her eyes she nearly jumped right out of the bed when she saw a solemn looking Louise standing alongside her. A wave of nausea hit her and her heart began to race, she could tell from the look on her face that something bad had happened.

'Maddie honey I need to talk to you,' Louise whispered as she began to slowly and gently unravel herself from Stephanie so she could get out of bed. When her feet hit the ground they felt like two big pieces of jelly, she followed Louise like she was in some sort of a trance. She'd been preparing herself for this moment ever since she was a child and now it was here, she was going to be told that somebody wasn't coming back.

Following Louise into her room she managed to get over to the bed and sat down before her legs gave way. Louise sat down next to her and before she could say anything Maddie found herself talking.

'Who is it? Please don't tell me it's all of them,' tears began to pool in her eyes as Louise took her hand and shook her head.

'Everyone on the boat is fine honey, that was your dad on the phone. Jake's mother called the boat a couple of hours ago, his sister Chelsea has passed away,' she stared at Louise as tears began to stream down her face, hearing that everyone on the boat was okay had given her such a huge sense of relief that she felt like a complete dog, she was relieved and Jake was out in the middle of the ocean thousands of miles away from home completely broken hearted. The pain that she felt for him took over and she couldn't seem to control herself as her silent tears became choked sobs.

'Oh Maddie,' Louise wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close, her reaction to the news would undoubtedly tell her all she needed to know about her feelings for Jake but she couldn't care less anymore. 'He's going to be home and with his family soon honey, Sig's taking the boat back to Dutch right now and he'll be on the next flight out of there.'

She managed to get herself together after a few minutes and eventually pulled away from Louise who just continued to stare at her without saying anything.

'Is there any chance that I could talk to him?'

Louise took one of her hands in hers. 'I can call the boat and ask to speak to him I guess, if you call you and I both know what Sig and your father will think.'

'I really don't give a shit what they think right now, I just need to speak to Jake, I need to hear his voice,' Louise gripped her hand tightly.

'Well you should care what they think, the last thing Jake needs right now is any drama and you know as well as I do that that's what will happen if you call the boat to speak to him. If I do it I can make something up, I've told Edgar that June and I will go to see his family tomorrow, I can say I need to talk to him about that or something.'

Even though her emotions were all over the place she knew that Louise was right. The last thing that she wanted to do right now was to cause trouble for Jake when his world had all but collapsed around him already.

'Will you call please?' Louise leaned over across the bed to grab the phone as she watched her in silence. She dialled the number off by heart, she'd called it enough times to have it memorised by now. After a minute or two Louise greeted whoever was on the other end of the line, it was probably Sig or her father, it definitely wouldn't be Jake answering the call.

'Is Jake able to talk right now? June and I have just got off the phone to each other and we're gonna go and see his family tomorrow morning, we weren't quite sure of their address,' Louise closed her eyes momentarily and then seemingly interrupted whoever she was talking to. 'Okay, okay I didn't call just for that, I called because I thought he might want to talk to someone who's a little more…sensitive. As much as I love you guys sometimes you can be a little over the top, will you just get him for me, please?' Louise then put her hand over the phone's speaker and whispered to her 'I think I might be off Sig's good list for a while after that.'

They then waited in silence for a couple of minutes before Louise spoke again. 'Jake honey this is Louise, Edgar's wife, I'm so sorry about your sister, I have someone here that wants to talk to you.' Louise remained silent for a few moments then put her hand over the speaker again 'he's getting Sig to leave the wheelhouse so he can be alone.' She waited with baited breathe as they both sat there in silence, getting Sig to leave the wheelhouse was like taking candy from a baby but after a few minutes of waiting Louise finally handed the phone over to her.

'Hi there,' Jake's broken voice sounded across the crackly line and almost tore her heart in two.

'Jake I'm so, so sorry about Chelsea, I know how much she meant to you. I really wish there was something I could say or do to make you feel better right now,' she shook her head as she tried to come up with something meaningful to say but she couldn't manage anything other than the usual clumsy attempts at consoling someone who had lost somebody close.

'It means a lot that you called,' she could hear him struggling to hold back his emotions as he spoke and she wanted him to know that he didn't have to hold anything back from her.

'Jake you don't have to hide your emotions from me, it's okay to get upset, to cry, to grieve,' she almost whispered down the line, hoping that she wasn't overstepping the mark.

'I have to be strong, my family need me to be strong. If I start crying the truth is I don't know when I'll fucking stop,' the choked sob after he'd finished talking almost made her burst into tears, his pain was her pain.

'Louise, June and I are going to visit your family tomorrow, we'll do what we can to help, not that much will help right now but we want you all to know that we're here. Well, you know I'm here for you I guess, I hope so anyway,' she was babbling, she always babbled when she didn't know what to say.

'I know you are and believe me it means a lot right now, more than you realise I think,' she wished that she could somehow reach down the line and touch him, she was desperate to be with him now more than ever. 'I'd better go, I need to start packing up my things and you should get some sleep if you're heading to see my folks tomorrow.'

She shook her head again, how could he be thinking of her needs at a time like this? 'Let me know when you get home and if there's anything you need or want, just get in touch no matter what time of day or night it is you got that?'

'Yes ma'am, I know better than to mess with a Hansen,' his words brought a little smile to her face. 'I'll see you soon, thanks Maddie.'

'You take care of yourself Jake, I'll see you when you get back.'

Putting the phone down was more difficult than she thought it would be, for a minute or two she just sat on the bed listening to the dialling tone like a fool. It was only when Louise came and sat back down on the bed again that she snapped out of her temporary daze and put the phone back where it belonged.

Reaching her hand across and placing it in hers once again Louise just stared at her. 'I think we need to talk about your feelings for Jake.'


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks once again for all the reviews, just a warning in advance that this chapter is very long and very emotional in parts so it might be an idea to get tissues ready! Please leave a review if you read and let me know what you think! Thanks once again! xo**

Chapter Seven

**Jake's POV**

A few hours had passed by since the funeral and their home was still full of people. Chelsea had lots of friends, her warm and funny personality meant that pretty much every person she'd met in her life had fallen in love with her. Many people had tried to comfort him, many had said that her passing was a blessing as she wouldn't be in pain anymore but he couldn't look at her death in that way. Because they'd lived at home together for so long she was his closest sibling, she'd pretty much been a second mother to him and he was devastated that he'd not had the chance to say goodbye to her and tell her how much he loved her. Now he was stood in his parent's living room trying to be strong for everyone when all he wanted to do was lock himself away in his room and grieve in private.

'Jake,' he looked up from the glass of orange juice that he was nursing to see Louise staring back at him sadly. 'I just wanted to say how sorry I am, Maddie wanted me to pass on her apologies for not making it here, there's a difficult case going on in work…'

'It's okay, she called me last night to explain, it was nice of her to come to the funeral, I told her she didn't have to,' he replied, Maddie had told him last night that Louise knew about their friendship so he saw no reason to cover up the fact that he'd spoken to her.

'She wanted to be here for you Jake, she really cares about you a great deal,' his heart warmed a little hearing those words but he still couldn't put a smile on his face, his heart was too broken to be able to do that.

'Thanks for coming today, it means a lot that you did,' he shifted slightly, as nice as Louise and everyone else was he just wanted to get out of the house and be alone for a while. 'I'm gonna go outside for a smoke, I'll see you soon.'

He kept his head down and left the house without saying a word to anyone. His family were all busy talking to other people and they probably wouldn't notice that he was missing anyway. He just needed to be alone for a couple of hours, being in the house where so many memories still lingered was just too hard today.

Digging around in his jacket pocket he found his car keys and decided to go for a drive to try and clear his head. He didn't know where he was going, if he kept himself busy he hoped that the guilt he felt for not being here when she passed would stay away for a while. His family had tried to make him feel better ever since he'd arrived home but nothing they could say or do would change the fact that he would never get the chance to spend a few final moments with the sister that he loved so much. Now that she was gone the house just felt empty and lonely without her. Because of her mobility problems he'd spent so much time with her goofing around to try and make her laugh, he would have done absolutely anything for her and when she needed him the most he hadn't been there for her.

Tears filled his eyes as he drove around aimlessly, he was desperately trying to fight them back because if he started to cry he knew he wouldn't be able to stop. The guys on the boat had all told him that he had to be strong for his family, he was a man, he was expected to be the rock for all of them and he was trying so hard not to fall apart completely. He was debating on whether to pull up and go for a walk or not when seemingly his decision was made for him by some random twist of fate. He hadn't been driving to anywhere in particular, he'd just taken turns as and when he felt the need to take them but somehow he'd ended up finding his way to one of his old hangouts.

He stopped the car opposite the run down building that he'd known so well and sat staring at it for a couple of minutes whilst his hands clung to the steering wheel. Surely one drink on the day of his sister's funeral wouldn't hurt would it? He had every reason to have just one beer or whiskey to take the edge off what had been a horrendous day. It's not like he would get completely hammered and cause a scene, he knew when to stop. No one would ever know that he'd done it so what harm could it do?

**Maddie's POV**

'You're still here?' She looked up from her mountain of paperwork to see her colleague Sarah poking her head around the door on her way out.

'Yep and I'm not going anywhere soon,' she sighed as she pointed to her jam packed desk. She loved her job ninety percent of the time but this side of it she could easily do without, she HATED paperwork! If they spent less time worrying about how things were written down they could spend more time actually talking to the children and the families that they saw, to her that would be more beneficial than filling in questionnaires.

'Do you want me to stay here and give you a hand?' She shook her head and smiled at Sarah's offer.

'No it's okay, thanks for the offer though.'

'Alright well I'll see you in the morning! Make sure you don't stay here all night missy!' Sarah shouted down the corridor as she left the building.

She really did not want to be stuck here, not tonight. There was only one place in the entire world that she wanted to be right now and that was with Jake. She'd tried to reschedule a meeting with the most notorious family that she had to deal with so she could take a half day and go to the funeral and to the wake at Jake's home but she hadn't been successful. Plus the pile of paperwork on her desk had to be completed whether she liked it or not. She'd managed to take an extended lunch break to attend Chelsea's funeral but she hadn't had enough time to talk to Jake for a great length of time and she felt awful about that. She'd called him last night and spent a couple of hours talking to him but that didn't make her feel much better. She wanted to see him, to be there for him in person so he could let all of his emotions out because she knew damn well that he was bottling everything up to try and be tough and strong. He didn't need to be tough and strong with her, he could just be himself. She just wanted to help try and take his pain away and she couldn't do that sat in her office.

She took a deep breath and tried to push Jake to the back of her mind as she started to go through the paperwork bit by bit, the quicker she worked the sooner she could go home and call Jake. She chowed down on one of her chicken and mayo sandwiches that she'd kept over from lunch as she started to clear the paper mountain on her overflowing desk. She managed to get about halfway through the pile after an hour and a half of nonstop work when her cell began to vibrate on the desk. She looked at the screen and saw Louise's name, she wasn't going to answer at first but something inside her told her to take the call.

'Hello,' she put the cell on speaker as she continued to go through the paperwork.

'Honey have you heard from Jake in the past couple of hours?' The question made her stop what she was doing immediately.

'No I haven't. Why, what's wrong? Has something happened?' She began to feel sick, had he done something stupid because he was so overwhelmed with grief?

'His mom just called and asked if we, more specifically you, might know where he was. He disappeared a few hours ago and didn't say where he was going, he told me he was going out for a cigarette but he never came back. I'm guessing you have no clue where he is?' She bit down on her lip and tried to think back to conversations they'd had in the past, she couldn't care less about the paperwork now, she had to try and find him.

'No I don't but he mentioned some places that he used to go to, I could go take a look….'

'On your own?'

'Yes on my own! I'm a Hansen, I can handle myself! I'll call right away if I find him,' before Louise could interject once again she ended the call and brought up Google on her PC to try and find some of the places he'd mentioned in their previous conversations.

She quickly printed off directions to three places that she remembered him mention and hoped that he would be at one of them. It was a long shot but she had nothing else to go on.

She got all her stuff together and rushed out of the office so she could get to work on finding Jake. By the time she reached her car she was out of breathe and her feet were throbbing in the stupid high heeled boots that she'd decided to wear, then again she hadn't predicted on doing a Usain Bolt impression when she'd dressed that morning.

Reading the directions that she'd printed off she worked out which place she could reach first, it was a bar called The Grove which she'd never heard of before. As she drove off she tried to call Jake's number, probably something that she should have done in the first place, her call went straight to his voicemail however so evidently he'd turned his phone off. He probably had most of his family and close friends trying to call him right now, if he was in a bar drinking it wasn't a surprise that he didn't want to speak to them, he wouldn't want them knowing what he was doing she guessed.

Weaving her way through traffic and speeding whenever she thought she could get away with it she managed to pull up outside the first bar on her list twenty minutes later. She had been about to exit the car when she took a closer look at the bar and saw that the front door was all boarded up, scrunching up the directions and throwing them in the back seat she studied the path to the next bar on the list which was a place called O'Malleys. She'd heard of the place before, mainly because fights and several stabbings had happened either inside or outside, somehow she couldn't imagine Jake going to a place like that but because he'd mentioned it in passing she had to go and check the place out for herself.

Once again she navigated her way through the Seattle streets and as soon as she turned the corner onto the street where O'Malleys was situated she spotted Jake's car. Pulling up right behind it she quickly turned off the engine and reached for her handbag which she'd placed in the back seat. Looking across the road to the dark and dingy looking bar she couldn't help but feel a little nervous as she noticed the unsavoury gang of men congregated around the front door. There was no way that she was calling anyone to come and back her up though, who the fuck could she call anyway? Jake's family had enough to deal with right now and Louise would hardly scare anyone off. Reaching into her bag she grabbed hold of the only useful thing that she'd brought with her, pepper spray. She'd carried it with her ever since one of her colleagues had been attacked at a home visit and she was now more thankful than ever that she had it with her. She slipped the spray into her jacket pocket and got out of the car so she could try and rescue Jake.

She focused her eyes firmly on the ground as she crossed the street, when she reached the sidewalk any hopes that she had of going into the bar unnoticed were gone when she started to hear catcalls and whistles.

'Hey sexy lady,' she had almost reached the front door when some bald older man covered in tattoos up to his neck blocked her path. 'I haven't seen you round here before,' he licked his lips and looked her up and down as she clutched the pepper spray in her jacket like a vice.

'That's because I haven't been here before,' trying to push past him proved futile as he easily managed to prevent her from moving forward.

'Why are you in such a hurry baby?' He put his hand on her arm and she immediately pulled away.

'Because my friend is in there getting drunk and he needs someone to take care of him so standing around outside talking to you isn't exactly high on my list of fucking priorities right now okay?' She glared at him as her temperature began to rise, she wasn't going to be scared away by some idiot who thought he was able to intimidate her, she'd dealt with pricks like him in the past because of her job.

'I'll be waiting for you when you leave sugar,' a smirk crossed his face as he stepped away from the door and brushed past her.

At least when she left she'd have Jake with her, she hoped she'd have him with her anyway. Ignoring some of the comments being thrown at her from tattooed guy's friends she pushed open the door to the bar and walked in trying to look as confident and unafraid as possible.

As soon as the door slammed shut behind her it felt like everyone in the bar stopped talking and stared at her. It was so dark and dingy inside that she could barely see where she was going as she started to head towards the scruffy, paint chipped bar where a few people were gathered.

She'd been about to ask the greasy haired, muscular man stood behind the bar if he knew where she could find Jake when a voice spoke from behind her.

'Maddie?'

She turned quickly to see Jake standing up and stepping out from the dark corner that he'd hidden himself away in. Relief spread through her body and without thinking she walked towards him and pulled him into a tight hug.

'I'm so glad I found you!' She'd been so scared that he'd done something stupid that seeing him almost made her explode, now she could talk to him and be here for him in his time of need.

'You shouldn't be here,' Jake pulled away from her after a couple of seconds and went back to his seat at the small table right in the corner of the bar. Just before she took a seat opposite him she noticed the glass of whiskey in front of him and pointed to it.

'How much of that have you had?' Jake picked the glass up and started to swirl the liquor around in the glass.

'None yet,' she breathed a huge sigh of relief, drinking wasn't going to make him feel any better, it would just make things so much worse. She'd got here just in time.

'And you think that drinking that is gonna make everything go away? It won't Jake, deep down you know that,' she stared at him but he didn't look at her, he kept his eyes on the glass.

'You should just go home Maddie, I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself,' he spoke the words half-heartedly, even if he was fucking nasty to her she still wasn't going to leave anyway, he probably knew that.

'You don't have to take care of yourself Jake,' the urge to tell him there and then what she truly felt for him was so strong but she had to resist. His head and his emotions were all over the place right now, if she did tell him how she really felt she had no idea how he would take it.

'What the fuck am I meant to do? My parents are devastated, my sister's aren't strong enough to try and deal with everything that's going on right now so that leaves me. If I don't find a way to cope then how is everyone else gonna get through this?'

'And drowning your sorrows is going to help you cope? It'll just make things a million times worse for you. You have to grieve Jake, you don't have to be the big, strong, tough guy with me, talk to me. I'm here for you,' she reached her hand across the table and placed it in his, for the first time since they'd sat down he looked at her.

'You have enough to deal with right now, I know you're busy at work…..'

'Screw work,' she interrupted him, 'I have plenty of leave to take and given the circumstances I think it's the right time to take it. I care about you so much Jake, I know we haven't known each other long but you're the closest friend I have, the closest I've ever had actually. I want to be here for you and I want to help you through this pain that you're feeling right now but you have to let it out, bottling it all up isn't going to help. Look where pretending everything is fine has got you so far, it's brought you here,' she gripped his hand and hoped that he wouldn't try to push her away.

'I can't go back to my parent's place, not yet,' Jake shook his head and she could see tears beginning to pool in his blue eyes.

'I have a spare room that you can use for as long as you need to,' having him stay with her would mean that she could keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't go back to his old ways. Plus with her dad and uncle's still fishing they didn't have to worry about being caught together for the time being.

'You're not gonna back down are you?' She shook her head. 'I know better than to try and fight a Hansen.'

'In that case let's get the hell out of here, this place gives me the creeps,' she looked around and could see that some of the men in the place were still looking at her.

Standing up quickly Jake followed her and without saying anything he wrapped an arm around her waist. Her skin tingled where his arm lay, if he could make her feel like this with just an arm around her waist what would he be able to do with her if they ever made love? She cursed herself silently, it was wrong to be thinking those thoughts at a time like this. Walking out of the bar and into the street she was brought back down to earth when she saw the tattooed man from before.

'Oh so this is the friend you were looking for then huh?'

'Just keep walking Jake, my car's parked across the road,' she felt his arm grip her waist even harder as she stared down at the ground and ignored the comment.

Passing by the man as he leaned up against a car she felt one of his hands make contact with her ass before she had time to do anything about it.

'Keep your fucking hands off of her!'

Jake saw what had happened and before she could stop him he launched himself at the tattooed guy and landed a blistering right hook right on his jaw. In the process of pulling him away from the scene one of the man's friends took advantage of the situation and punched Jake, hitting him on his cheekbone.

'Jake we need to get the fuck out of here now!'

She dragged him across the road and all but bundled him into her car, she could see that he was still angry and given half a chance he would probably go back for more but she wasn't going to give him that chance. Locking the car up after she'd got inside she sped off and didn't look back.

Once they were a few blocks away from the scene she pulled over to take a look at Jake's injury.

'The little bastard sucker punched me!' He winced as she studied the swollen and bruised flesh.

'We should get you checked out in case he's fractured anything,' she commented and he shook his head immediately.

'Once I get a bag of ice on it it'll be fine, no hospitals, not today,' rather than argue with him she said nothing and pulled off from the side of the road, the quicker she got him back to her place the sooner he could put some ice on his cheek.

Half an hour later she pulled into her designated parking space in the car park behind her apartment building. Without saying anything to one another they walked into the building together and took the elevator to the upper floor, as soon as they got inside her apartment she headed for the freezer so she could find something for Jake to put on his swollen cheek.

Finding a bag of frozen peas and wrapping it in a towel she handed the bag to Jake who thanked her before taking a seat on her couch.

'I'll have to go back tomorrow to pick up my car and grab some stuff from my folks place, that's if it's okay for me to stay for a couple of nights,' Jake broke the silence between them as she pulled out two bottles of water from the fridge and went to sit alongside him.

'You can stay as long as you want, it'll be nice to have someone to talk to,' she smiled as she handed one of the bottles over to Jake.

'I'm not exactly great to be around right now Maddie, if I don't talk much it's not because I'm deliberately trying to be rude I just….I just don't know what to say,' he sighed heavily before wincing as he pressed the peas against his cheek.

'You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, if you just wanted to scream, shout or cry you can do that, you just have to let these feelings out before they eat you up inside Jake,' she was talking from experience. Her dad had tried to remain strong when her grandpa had passed away, for months he'd buried himself in his work and pretended that everything was fine until one day he just broke down completely. She couldn't bear the thought of the same thing happening to Jake.

Putting the bag of frozen peas down on the coffee table in front of him Jake took a deep breath and cupped his hands together. 'It's already eating me up and I can't seem to stop it. I loved her so much, so much and I wasn't there for her when she needed me. I'm never gonna have the chance to say goodbye to her and I just want that chance, I want it so badly….'

She moved across the couch and wrapped her arms around his waist whilst placing her chin on his shoulder. 'Just let it out Jake, don't hide from me.'

The whispered words broke down the final barrier holding his emotions together and he started to weep. She held onto him as tight as she could and let him cry. He turned slightly and buried his face against her shoulder, his body shook from head to toe at the force of his choked sobs which almost made her cry too but she didn't, she just held him and stroked his hair in an attempt to provide him with some form of comfort. That was all that she could do.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you all so much for sticking with the story, the reviews and the continued support, it means a lot to me! I am so sorry it has taken so long to update, I struggled with this chapter for some reason! Hope you enjoy and please leave your reviews to keep me going! Thanks guys!**

Chapter Eight

'Maddie?'

He called her name in a gentle whisper as he tried to stare into the darkness of her room, he'd woken up in the early hours of the morning feeling vulnerable and so alone, he needed comfort, her comfort.

'Jake? Are you okay?' Her voice sounded out across the room and he began to make his way across to her bed.

'Can I stay with you tonight? I don't want to be alone,' he really was pathetic at times but he couldn't put it any other way, he had to be close to her.

'Uh I guess so, hold on a minute,' he heard her shuffling across the bed and waited until she had stopped moving before he pulled back the covers and crawled into her warm bed.

The pillows and the covers radiated with her sweet smell, rolling onto his side he reached out for her without saying a word. His hand came into contact with the side of her cheek and he gently began to run his fingers over her soft flesh whilst moving closer to her in the process.

'Jake what are you doing?' She whispered as he pressed his forehead against hers so he could stare at her.

'I need this Maddie, I need you,' before she could reply he used his fingers to find her lips and ran one finger across the perfectly smooth surface. 'You can make all this pain stop.' He leaned forward and replaced the finger trailing her lips with his mouth, she moaned against his mouth as he felt one of her hands move into his hair.

Not content with just kissing her lips he started to work his way down, first kissing around her jaw before moving to her neck as one of his hands continued to circle patterns on her cheek.

'Oh Jake…..'

Her body arched against him when he trailed kisses over her neck, he knew it was a weak spot for most women and she was no different. Her moans had given him the confidence to go a little further, opening his mouth slightly he let his tongue slide over her vanilla scented skin, this move made her push her other hand into his hair as she gasped out loud.

The sweet taste of her skin left him wanting and needing so much more, he was already lost in the warmth and beauty of her body and they weren't even naked yet. Moving his hand from her face he continued to kiss and suck at her neck whilst his hands trailed further down her body. As tempted as he was to let them explore her breasts first he avoided them completely and let his hands glide over her soft stomach which made his sweet Maddie whine.

'Tell me that you want me just as much as I want you,' he began to trail his kisses down from her neck to her collarbone as her body began to move against him.

'I do Jake, I do. I want you so much, I've wanted you from the first moment I saw you,' her words made his world spin. She felt the same as he did, he wouldn't have to be alone now, he had her.

He was about to lift her shirt up even higher so he could reveal her top half in all its glory when he felt himself shaking.

'Jake, Jake…..'

He awoke from his blissful dream with a start to see Maddie leaning over him.

'Sorry, you told me to come and wake you if you weren't up by ten,' she gave him a beautiful smile which made his insides melt, God how he fucking wished that dream had been a reality. 'I've made some breakfast for us, hope you like homemade pancakes and blueberries.'

'I thought you had to be in work this morning?' She shook her head.

'I called this morning and told them I needed the day off, got the next couple of weeks off too, luckily I have a very cool boss who likes me. Come on, breakfast is getting cold,' he waited until she'd left the room to get out of bed, after the dream he'd had he was a little….erect.

The only thing he had to put on were the clothes he'd worn to the funeral yesterday so somehow he managed to bundle himself into the black pants, thankfully his black shirt was long enough to cover the slight bulge in his trousers. He walked out into the lounge to find Maddie sat at the small breakfast bar tucking into the pile of pancakes that she had made.

'You didn't have to go to all this trouble just for me,' he said as he sat himself down on one of the high stools opposite her.

'I didn't, pancakes are my favourite. Plus I never usually have time for breakfast when I work so this is a treat just for me, you just so happen to be here to enjoy my treat too,' she smiled.

He couldn't help but smile back at her before he piled some pancakes onto the plate she'd set out for him and started to tuck in. She'd dropped everything to be there for him and he couldn't thank her enough for what she had done for him so far. They'd been up until the early hours of the morning talking about Chelsea, he wished that he'd taken Maddie to meet her so they could have got to know each other. He was sure that Maddie would have loved Chelsea just as much as he did, everyone that met his sister loved her.

He'd cried and broken down so many times that he'd lost count, with Maddie he didn't need to pretend that everything was okay, he didn't have to be strong. The hardest part last night had been calling his parents to let them know that he wasn't coming home. He'd spoken to his mother after he'd recovered from the first crying session and he'd told her he was going to stay with Maddie for a few days. He was going over there today to pick up some belongings and he was sure that by now everyone in his family knew where he was, his friendship with Maddie would no longer be a secret to his immediate family and he was hoping that she would be willing to come with him to his parent's house so she could meet everyone.

'So what's the plan for today?' As if reading his thoughts she broke the silence between them.

'Well first off I need to get my car then I need to head over to my folks, I was hoping you'd come with me,' she stared at him nervously and bit down a little on her bottom lip.

'I don't know if that's a good idea Jake,' he put down his knife and fork and stopped eating.

'You don't have to be nervous, I think it's time you got to know them better, I should have let you come over when Chelsea….' His voice broke a little after mentioning her name.

'If you want me to come then I will, I guess your sister's will want to put a face to the name of the girl you're gonna be staying with for the next week or so,' she smiled back at him but he could tell that she was still nervous, he didn't blame her. Meeting four sisters who would probably want to know her life story was hardly anything to get excited about. Plus his family weren't exactly happy and in great spirits at the moment, they wouldn't be for a while. 'I've already taken a shower, I'll go and get changed into something a little nicer and sort out my hair and make-up, I need to look half decent if we're going to your parent's place.'

'You don't need to change and you don't need to do anything to your hair or put make-up on, you look lovely just as you are,' he disliked how critical she could be about her appearance at times, how could she not know just how beautiful she was?

'You think so?' They stared at each other from across the room for a few moments before he responded.

'Yeah, yeah I do,' he fought against his urges to get up and pull her towards him so he could kiss the life out of her. He'd never seen her look so vulnerable and unsure before, if he did make a move and it wasn't what she wanted their friendship would be ruined forever, he couldn't risk losing something that he needed so much right now. 'I'd uh better go and take a quick shower before we leave if that's okay?'

'Yeah that's fine! I put fresh towels out for you in the bathroom and there's plenty of shower gel and shampoo you can use,' she quickly replied.

He thanked her before crossing the room to go into the bathroom, leaving Maddie to clean up the kitchen after breakfast. When they came back later he was going to cook and clean for her to show that he wasn't just a lazy man who didn't know his way around a kitchen. For now though he was just glad to be away from her so he could get himself together, he couldn't be with her, not like that, he HAD to remember that at all times from now on and stop those silly thoughts from entering his head.

Maddie's POV

'Just pull in behind the blue car on the right hand side,' Jake pointed ahead to the blue Honda Civic that was parked just a few metres away.

This was it, she was going to meet Jake's entire family and she was more nervous than she had ever been in her life. She was used to meeting new people, she had to do it every single day in her job but the people she was about to meet could easily make or break her friendship with Jake. They hadn't exactly got off on the right foot, in their eyes Jake had left his parents alone to be with her when they needed him the most.

'Don't look so scared,' Jake commented as she pulled up behind the car and switched off the engine.

'Are you sure that me coming in with you is a good idea? Perhaps it's best if you go alone so you can sit everyone down and explain to them why you need to spend some time away…..'

'Maddie I'm not gonna force you to come inside, I just think that it might set everyone's mind's at ease if they get to put a face to the name and learn a little bit more about you,' at first she tried not to look at him because she knew her resolve would break down if she did. She made the mistake of taking a quick glance at him and she caught sight of his big blue eyes staring back at her, those eyes could persuade her to do anything, well almost anything, she probably wouldn't do anal….

'If I look really embarrassed or stressed out you need to come and save me okay? I'm not good with people asking me lots of questions, I start to swear and get all sweaty and shit, Hansen's don't like being interrogated,' her words brought a smile to Jake's face, it was nice to see that smile once again, after how upset he'd been last night she wasn't sure that she would ever see it again.

'I promise I will be your knight in shining armour if my sister's start to get too much,' he replied before looking past her at the house. 'We'd better go inside, someone was just looking at us through the window.'

She watched as Jake stepped out of the car and took a deep breathe to try and calm herself down. If things got too much she could always make her excuses and leave, it's not as if she was going to be trapped inside with nowhere else to go, it was time for her to put her big girl panties on and suck it up.

No sooner had she stepped out of her car to join Jake on the sidewalk the front door to his parent's house opened and his mother came running out to greet them.

'I'm so glad you're here!' She stood back and watched as mother and son embraced, she couldn't imagine how difficult things were for his mom right now, she'd just lost one of her babies and last night she'd probably convinced herself that something bad had happened to her only son.

When Jake and his mom pulled away from each other after a minute or so she nervously waited to greet her not knowing what her reaction would be. She was a little taken aback when his mother walked over to her and embraced her just like she'd embraced Jake.

'Thank you for finding him and keeping him safe,' the pain and sadness that was so evident in her voice as she whispered to her almost made her cry on the spot. She couldn't pretend that she knew what she was going through right now, the pain of losing a child was greater than anything that she could imagine and she hoped that she would never have to experience such a traumatic event.

'Thank you for letting me come here, I can't really figure out what to say, I'm just so sorry for your loss, I won't even pretend to understand how you're feeling right now,' she replied, hoping that the words she'd chosen were adequate, she didn't know what else to say.

'Jake,' his mother pulled away from her without replying to what she'd said, she immediately began to panic, thinking that she'd sounded like an insensitive bitch or something. 'Why don't you go inside and let me talk to Maddie alone for a couple of minutes?'

'Mom I…..'

'It's okay Jake,' she interrupted him before he could respond negatively to his mother's request. She didn't want to cause an argument between mother and son, not at a time like this.

'Are you sure?' He replied, locking eyes with her. She just nodded and smiled a little to try and reassure him.

'I'm not going to hurt her Jake or argue with her so go inside, your father and your sister's all want to see you,' Jake kept staring at her for a few seconds before he started to make his way up the front path to his home. Once he reached the front door he looked back again before going inside. She couldn't deny that she was nervous about what his mother had to say to her but she had to toughen up and listen, even if what she was going to hear wouldn't be pleasant.

'You don't have to look so afraid, I don't bite,' his mom broke the awkward silence first a minute or two after Jake had gone inside.

'I just want to say that I'm sorry for not bringing Jake back here last night and I don't want you to feel like I'm taking him away because that's not what I'm trying to do I promise…' she started to ramble, a trait she always displayed when she was nervous before his mother stepped in.

'Maddie I'm just glad that he has someone he can talk to and somewhere safe that he can call home for a while so he can grieve,' her body relaxed a little hearing her words, confrontation wasn't the point of the private conversation after all. 'He's tried to be so strong for me, his dad and his sisters but I know my son, I know that inside he's hurting so much right now, you probably know that too.'

She nodded. 'I know that he loves all of you so much and he doesn't want to break down and admit to you that he's not doing well. I think he feels like he'd be letting you all down if he admitted that he was in pain you know? Sorry, I'm talking to you as if you don't know anything about him, I don't mean to sound so condescending and stupid…'

'You don't sound condescending or stupid, you sound like you care about my son,' his mother reached out and placed a hand on her arm as she spoke.

'I do care about him, I really do,' she stopped herself from saying anything more but was shocked at what his mother had to say next.

'You're in love with him aren't you?'

The question lingered in the air as she let her eyes fall down to the ground hoping it would swallow her up. She didn't want to give an answer, she either had to tell the truth or blatantly lie and she couldn't do either of those things.

'We'd better go inside before Jake comes out to look for us, come on, follow me,' Maddie was in a daze when she started to follow Jake's mom up the path to her house, she'd expected to be pushed to give an answer to her. Had his mother figured out the truth without her having to say anything at all?

She was usually a really good liar, it wasn't something to be proud of but living with a dad who didn't want you to date until your late forties kind of meant that she had to get used to lying from a young age so really her skills as a liar were totally her father's fault, not hers. For some reason, and she didn't know why or how, she just knew that his mother had worked out the truth and that meant that she could say something to Jake at any moment. Now she was beginning to wonder whether it would just be best to tell Jake how she really felt before someone else got there before her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks once again for all the reviews guys! I have to hold my hands up and admit that I have messed up the timeline of events in this story, I have written his sister's death earlier than I should have and I apologise for that and hope it doesn't affect the story for you in any way. This is another split POV chapter, most of them will be from now on. Enjoy and please leave a review! Thank you!**

Chapter Nine

_**One Month Later**_

**Maddie's POV**

She couldn't believe how many people had turned up at the docks to welcome the Northwestern home from the Opilio Crab season. Ever since Deadliest Catch had first aired year after year the number of people showing up at their homecomings had increased. When the Discovery Channel had first approached her family about starring in their new reality series on crab fishermen no one really thought that the show would become such a huge success. Every single year ratings increased and more offers came flooding in, her father and her uncles were in demand and soon Jake would be in demand too.

Today, more than any other day that had gone by in the past month, she regretted not coming clean and telling Jake just how she felt about him. She'd tried and she'd come so fucking close to just blurting everything out on several occasions but she'd held back each and every time. Just after his mother had worked out her true feelings she had been one hundred per cent sure that she was going to tell him the truth. Going into his home and meeting the rest of his family had changed all that.

Her nerves and fears about meeting his family had proved to be unfounded, his father and his sisters had been warm and very welcoming. From talking to them she'd learned just how central Jake was to their family, now that he had his job on the Northwestern he was by far the biggest breadwinner. His parents had re-mortgaged their house twice in order to pay Chelsea's medical bills and they were swamped in a mountain of debt as well as a mountain of grief. Telling Jake that she loved him and wanted to be with him just wasn't an option because she was scared of what would happen if he felt the same way as she did. It sounded stupid to be scared of the person you loved feeling the same way but that was the truth, what would happen to his family if they became a couple? She didn't want to see his parents get kicked out of their home, she didn't want them to hurt any more than they were already hurting because they were good, lovely, decent people who'd brought up a wonderful man in Jake.

It was a very strange feeling standing at the docks, usually she would feel so excited and happy to see everyone coming home and of course she WAS happy that everyone was coming back safe and sound but she also felt sad. Now that her father was home she knew she wasn't going to see as much of Jake, they couldn't be as carefree as they had been over the past month. He'd stayed at her apartment for a week and a half, that probably wouldn't be happening again now, how could it? She loved her father and her family so much but she wanted to share all the love she had with Jake too and she hated the fact that she couldn't.

'So are we taking bets this year on who gets the most attention from the ladies?' June smirked as she began to scan the crowd that had gathered all around them.

'Oh come on mom we all know Jake is gonna win this hands down, that's if he shows up,' she tried not to look bothered as Nina made the comment which even she knew was correct, Jake was going to be the prime target for most of the women here and she had to deal with it.

'He'll be here,' Louise glanced at her and shot her a small smile, she'd wanted to keep her feelings from her but the night they'd got the phone call from her dad she'd told her everything. Since then they hadn't spoken about what was going on but Louise could read her like a book, she knew damn well that her feelings hadn't changed. She'd expected Louise to warn her to back off and to leave well alone but she hadn't, it was obvious that she liked Jake and she seemed to actually want things to work out for them in the end, not that there was a good chance of that happening.

She was completely lost in her own thoughts as she stared out at the still ocean whilst her family continued to talk and crack jokes. They could probably notice the change in her, she was normally loud, talkative and cracking jokes all the time but now all she seemed to do was daydream. She'd made fun of friends in the past for being lovesick, now she could understand how they felt because she was feeling the exact same thing.

'See I told you that there was no point in making any bets this time!' She glanced at Nina before following her gaze, her heart sank when she saw a crowd of women surrounding a slightly terrified looking Jake. She had warned him on the phone last night that if he came he would probably get a lot of attention, he hadn't believed her as his screen debut hadn't happened yet but she knew that the hardcore fans would already know everything about him. She really wished the fucking internet hadn't been invented now, fucking tramps.

'Should one of us go and save him? He looks a little scared,' Mandy spoke up as all of them watched Jake as he tried to deal with the many women surrounding him.

'Why don't you go and get him Maddie? We'll protect him,' Louise looked at her and she gave her a warm smile in return, she was all too glad to get Jake away from the women, she just wished she could claw their eyes out in the process.

She made her way through the crowd of people to get to Jake, before she could reach him he looked over and their eyes met causing her to almost melt on the spot. She would never get tired of looking into those blue eyes.

A smile appeared on his face as he saw her and he said something to the women surrounding him then started to walk towards her. The women who had been talking to him shot her glares and stared at her but she didn't give a shit, they were just lucky that she couldn't let loose at them and tell them what she really thought.

'Man this is fucking insane! I didn't think anyone would know who I was!' Jake's face got red as he stared around at the crowd who all seemed to be looking at them.

'I told you they would! You'd better get used to it, when the season airs you're gonna be getting a lot more attention than this from the ladies,' she tried not to sound sad but it was hard, she knew that he wouldn't be single for much longer, a guy as sweet as he was would get snapped up pretty soon.

'It's just kinda weird you know? Having strangers coming up wanting to offer condolences and try to flirt with me at the same time, at least I think they were flirting,' he looked flustered as they made their way over to the rest of the Hansen clan who were also watching them intently. She knew that Louise wouldn't have said anything about her feelings for Jake to June and the girls but she had a feeling that they had worked out for themselves what she thought about him. She just hoped that her father wouldn't do the same.

'They were so flirting with you! Didn't you see the glares I got when you walked away with me?'

'They're just jealous because you're wearing a pretty hat,' he smirked as she playfully nudged him after his quip, fucker.

'It's so nice to see you Jake!' Once they reached the women Louise was the first person to greet Jake with a hug and a warm smile. She stood back and let the other's talk to Jake as she tried as hard as she could not to stare at him or show any signs that she was fighting the urge to rip his clothes off and take him there and then.

After ten minutes of talking some cheers erupted out of nowhere and when she looked out into the distance she could see the familiar sight of the family boat coming into the dock. As soon as she saw the boat she made a point of moving a little further away from Jake, she felt ridiculous for having to do such a thing but she really did not want her dad to work out that she had feelings for one of his colleagues. If the women had all worked out how she truly felt then she was obviously not hiding her feelings as well as she thought she had been, now that her dad was home she had to keep a better handle on things. They wouldn't be able to spend anywhere near as much time together as they had been and she just hoped that they wouldn't drift apart.

Whilst waiting for the boat to dock she stared straight ahead and didn't dare even glance for one second at Jake. As the boat got closer to them she moved to stand next to Louise who immediately linked arms with her and offered her a soft smile. She was so thankful now that she'd told Louise the truth. She had a feeling that over the next few months she'd need her support more than ever.

**Jake's POV**

'Jake?'

Someone spoke his name just as the Northwestern was pulling into the dock. He turned around and came face to face with some fully made up woman who he didn't recognise. Maddie had been right, even though the season hadn't started to air yet people already recognised him and he wasn't exactly comfortable with the attention.

'I was so sorry to hear about your sister, it must have been so horrible.'

He wanted to run the fuck away as fast as he could. He hadn't come here to meet fans or to find someone who'd wanna fuck him, he just wanted to be left alone. Before he'd taken the job on the Northwestern he'd naively thought that no one would really be that interested in him, he was quickly learning that that wasn't going to be the case. He was going to have to find a way of coping with all the newfound attention and 'fame' if he wanted to keep his job, he just wished that he had Maddie by his side all the time to help him through it.

'Jake come with us, I'm sure the guys would like to see you,' before he could respond to the woman's words Louise stepped in and grabbed his arm to pull him towards the boat. He looked ahead and could see that Maddie had already gone to her father who immediately pulled her into a bone crushing hug. 'Jake honey a word of advice,' Louise came to an abrupt halt before they reached the boat. 'You're looking at Maddie like a lovesick puppy and if you keep doing that Edgar will neuter you.'

He was lost for words after Louise's blunt comment. He was convinced that he was hiding his feelings so well but evidently he wasn't as good an actor as he thought he was. If Louise could tell how he felt about Maddie then how the fuck was he going to be able to fool Edgar?

'Just stick close to me….'

'Hey Junior get your own woman!'

Before she could finish her sentence Edgar had interrupted them. He just stood back and stared at the ground as Edgar and Louise embraced, as tempted as he was to look to see where Maddie had got to he knew that he had to just try and pretend that she wasn't here. After a couple of minutes of hugging and kissing Edgar and Louise broke apart after he whispered something to her. Louise began to walk away from them as Edgar walked towards him, he tried his best to remain calm and not look scared to death, if he looked guilty then he would know that there was something wrong.

'How are you doing man?'

'Okay I guess, some days are good some days are pretty shit but I'm trying to just get on with things you know?' He replied as Edgar nodded.

'That's the best thing you can do. I'm sorry we couldn't be there for the funeral….'

'Don't say sorry, there's no need.'

'We missed you out there you know,' he smiled at the compliment, they weren't easy to come by from Edgar. He was about to reply when the woman he'd been trying to avoid looking at interrupted their conversation.

'I'm really sorry dad but I have to head back to work, I'll come by tonight so we can catch up okay?'

'Okay honey, come by around six and we'll all have dinner together,' Edgar pressed a kiss on her forehead before Maddie looked at him.

'It was nice to see you again Jake.'

'Yeah it was good to see you too.'

After their brief exchange Maddie started to make her way through the crowd and disappeared amongst it as Edgar sighed heavily and shook his head. 'Something's going on with her.'

He tried to remain calm even though his stomach began to do somersaults, did he know about them meeting each other? Was he just being nice for now but waiting for the right time to kick his ass? He had to say something or else he would look as guilty as hell. 'What do you mean something's going on with her?'

'She's acting weird, really fucking weird. She was all over the place before I went away and I think I know why,' he swallowed hard and prayed to God that Edgar wasn't about to confront him. 'I think she's seeing someone and she doesn't want me to know about it. The last prick that she dated she kept hidden from me for months now she's being all sneaky and secretive again, this is exactly what she did back then when she was screwing around with her weird tattooed, pierced freak.'

He didn't know how to react to Edgar's words, if he defended Maddie then that would look suspicious but he didn't want to make trouble for her either. He guessed that when she saw her father later he would be asking questions and trying to find out as much information as possible and he didn't want to make things worse for her by making her look guilty or winding him up even more.

'She could just be stressed out at work or something, my sister's tend to act differently when they are under a lot of pressure you know?' He attempted to lead Edgar away from the mysterious boyfriend scenario that he'd come up with but he knew deep down that nothing he said would make the stubborn bastard think differently. He just felt so bad for Maddie, she was an adult, who she decided to date or sleep was none of her dad's business, not anymore.

'No this isn't stress, this is her keeping some fucking secret from me and I hate secrets. I need to get to the bottom of this and I will.'

A deep sense of sadness and anger passed through him, Edgar was acting like some fucking Private Investigator rather than a father. Now that he'd pretty much admitted outright that he was going to be digging some dirt on Maddie how could he possibly risk going to visit her? The only way he could see her was if he came clean about how he felt but even then she might not want anything to do with him. Everything was a complete fucking mess.


	10. Chapter 10

**Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a great Christmas! Again, apologies about the time it has taken for me to update this, my stupid computer deleted what I had written a week ago so I had to start practically all over again! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and favourited the story so far! I hope you enjoy and forgive me for being so slow! **

Chapter Ten

Six Weeks Later

'Maddiiieeeeeeee!'

As soon as Louise opened the front door a very excited Stephanie came running to her and jumped into her outstretched arms. Her dad had finally given in to Stephanie's pleading and begging for a puppy and she was here to visit the new member of the Hansen family, Georgie.

'So where's this Georgie person you were talking about over the phone? He's your new boyfriend right?' Stephanie let out a huge sigh and rolled her eyes dramatically as she carried her into the house. 'Boys are icky! Georgie is my new best friend and he's a puppy silly!'

'Hmm I see dad has been teaching you a few things,' Maddie smirked as she put Stephanie down and turned to give Louise a hug.

'Gotta drum it into her from a young age, not that she'll listen, you sure as hell don't,' she looked nervously at Louise who immediately shot a glare at her dad.

'This isn't the time or the place to be starting with this again Edgar. Maddie's here for her sister, not to be interrogated by you so play nice or go upstairs out of the way. Come on Maddie,' Louise took her hand and led her into the sitting room where Stephanie, Logan and Michael were all crowded around their new Labrador cooing over him.

'So this is Georgie?' She walked over to the four of them and got down on her knees to start petting the cute as a button dog who lapped up the attention gratefully.

Normally she wouldn't feel so tense and nervous in the family home but even meeting Georgie and being with her brothers and sister didn't help her to feel comfortable. Her dad was treating her like public enemy number one because he'd convinced himself that she was seeing someone and no matter how many times she denied it he just wouldn't believe her. Okay, it wasn't as if he was completely wrong to be suspicious considering her feelings for Jake but what was she meant to do? They were nothing more than friends but her dad wouldn't see it that way.

That's why she'd pulled back from Jake ever since her dad had got home. When he'd called her the night that the boat had got home and told her what her father had said to him she knew that she had to distance herself from him to protect him. Her father was like a dog with a bone when he got an idea in his head and she knew he'd be watching her like a hawk, he'd done it in the past and he'd keep doing it. The last time she'd seen Jake had been almost three weeks ago when she'd agreed to meet him for a coffee in a small café on the outskirts of Seattle. They still exchanged messages and telephone calls but they were nowhere near as close as they had been before her dad had got back in town.

She thought that not seeing him and spending so much time with him might make her feelings for him weaken but instead they'd just grown so much stronger. He was consuming her thoughts nearly every minute of the day and it was becoming clear to her that nothing would change how much she loved him.

'Are you staying for dinner Maddie?' She jumped a little when she heard Michael speak, she was off in a dream world nearly all the time these days.

'Um well I'm not sure…..'

'Please Maddie! Georgie wants you to stay! Look he's wagging his tail at you!' Stephanie started to give her the puppy dog eyed look which had won her over so many times in the past, this time wouldn't be any different. She hadn't spent much time with her siblings recently, the least she could do was to stay for dinner and put up with her dad for just a little while longer.

'Okay, okay you've twisted my arm! I'll stay for dinner,' she leaned over and planted a kiss on Stephanie's nose before going back to playing with Georgie who had now focused his complete attention on her.

She remained in the living room playing with Georgie and her siblings whilst Louise went into the kitchen to finish off making dinner. Her father had chosen to hide himself away upstairs after Louise had snapped at him and she was glad that he wasn't around. She would never stop loving him but there were times that she didn't like him all that much. He just couldn't seem to accept the fact that he didn't have complete control over her anymore. That's why she'd kept boyfriends hidden from him for so long in the past, she knew damn well that he'd find faults in anyone that she chose to date, he always did. She could date the President and he still wouldn't be good enough for her in her dad's eyes.

After spending half an hour with her siblings and the new addition to the family Louise shouted from the kitchen that dinner was ready. Leaving Georgie to have some much needed rest she followed her brothers and sister into the kitchen hoping that her father would choose to remain upstairs out of the way. At first it looked like he wasn't going to make an appearance but halfway through her spaghetti and meatballs he came in and grabbed his plate of dinner out of the oven and sat down at the table without saying anything.

An awkward silence took over as she continued to eat her food without looking up from her plate. Now wasn't the time for an argument, not with the kids around.

'I wonder if I should give Junior a call to see how he's getting on with Kate,' she almost choked on her spaghetti when her dad uttered words that tore right through her. Kate? Who the fuck was Kate?

'No you shouldn't give him a call. You've already done more than enough, I can't even believe you set him up with that girl. She's obviously not his type,' Louise snapped at Edgar as she continued to stare down at her plate and tried to keep eating as she forced herself to remain calm even though she wanted to upend her remaining pasta over her dad's head.

'Not his type? And how would you know what his type is Louise?' Her father replied.

'Now isn't the time to be having this conversation Edgar, this is meant to be a nice, happy, family meal. Now the Hansen Express has rolled in and derailed it, as usual,' Louise sighed heavily.

She tried to finish off the food she had left to eat but she couldn't do it, she felt sick to her stomach. Every part of her was aching both physically and mentally. All she wanted to do was go home so she could be left alone to cry and comfort eat until she puked.

'You know what, I just remembered that I left some paperwork that I need to finish off this weekend at the office so I need to leave,' she got up from her chair quickly as she fought to keep her tears at bay. She knew that her excuse wasn't at all convincing but she didn't care, she just had to get out of this fucking house before she broke her dad's nose.

'You're not going anywhere until we've had a chance to talk…..'

'Dad just stop this okay? I'm tired, I'm stressed and I really can't be dealing with your questions and stupid ideas right now so just leave me alone,' she couldn't even bring herself to look him. She'd idolised him, she'd worked so hard to make him proud and with just a few words he'd pretty much broken her heart in two.

Before a huge argument could take place she quickly made her way around the table, giving goodbye hugs and kisses to Logan, Stephanie and Michael whilst completely ignoring her dad whose face was getting redder by the minute.

'I'll walk you to the door,' Louise got up from her seat and wrapped a protective arm around her as she escorted her past her dad and out of the kitchen. Nothing was said as they walked down the hallway to the front door, once they were on the doorstep and Louise closed the door behind them she struggled to contain her emotions which threatened to boil over.

'I'm so sorry you had to find out like that Maddie, I don't know what possessed your dad to set him up with that girl. She's been around the block and back again several times, she's really not the sort of woman Jake would want….'

'Dad knows, that's why he's done this. He wants Jake to be with someone else so nothing can happen between us, you and I both know it.' At first she hadn't wanted to believe that her father would do something to hurt her so much but it was the only explanation for his sudden need to pair Jake off with someone else.

Saying the words out loud opened up the floodgates that had temporarily held in place. She was reduced to a pathetic sobbing wreck in the space of a few seconds. Louise's arms came around her and held onto her tightly as she cried into her shoulder, without her support she would have ended up on the floor. It didn't matter what Louise said, all she could think about was Jake being with another woman and it killed her.

Jake's POV

He stared down at his plate of half eaten pasta and just wished that the ground would swallow him up. He'd been on his date with Kate for just over an hour but it felt like he'd been here for days. He'd tried to make an effort and at least have a friendly conversation with her if nothing else but she didn't exactly have the skills to be able to hold a moderately intelligent conversation. She was more interested in pouting and preening herself, she was the type of woman he wanted to keep as far away from as possible. He never should have agreed to take her out on this stupid fucking 'date' that had been set up by Edgar, he should have had the balls to refuse but where Edgar was concerned he wasn't ashamed to admit that he was absolutely terrified of him.

'So um, when we finish here do you wanna come back to my place for a coffee or something? I would say a beer but you don't drink so….'

He looked up from his food for the first time since it had been brought to the table and he tried to think of a way to let her down gently. 'Look Kate….' Before he could finish a sentence he felt his cell vibrate in his pocket. 'Sorry, I need to take this.' Using the call as a chance to escape from an awkward moment he got up from the table and made his way outside. He didn't recognise the number that flashed up on his screen but for some reason he decided to take the call anyway. 'Hello.'

'Hi Jake, how are things going with Kate?' He was shocked to hear Louise's voice, she was the last person he was expecting to speak to.

'Um not great, is everything okay? Nothing's happened to Maddie has it?' He began to panic a little, he couldn't understand why Louise would call him unless it was to break some bad news to him.

'She knows that you're out on a date, she's just left here in floods of tears. So no, everything is not okay right now,' he didn't know how to react to Louise's words, why was Maddie upset? They were friends. Friends didn't get upset about dates, did they? 'Enough is enough Jake, I feel like banging your heads together so you can both see what's in front of you!'

Was this really happening? Was Louise actually telling him that Maddie felt something for him? Surely she'd got things mixed up? How could someone like Maddie want someone like him?

'Go to her Jake, talk to her. She needs to see you and I'm guessing that you need to see her too, that's all I'm going to say,' before he could respond Louise ended the call and he was left standing on the sidewalk outside the restaurant with a million different thoughts racing through his head.

He began to pace up and down as he tried to figure out what to do for the best. If he took Louise's advice he knew what that would mean, he wouldn't be able to lie to her face again. The date with another woman had just proved that he would never be able to get her out of his head. He'd told himself that one day he would find someone else but now he knew that wasn't true. He hadn't stopped thinking about her, he'd been comparing Kate to her and there was just no comparison. No one would compare to her, ever.

Before he could lose the guts that he managed to summon up from somewhere he marched back into the restaurant and pulled a one hundred dollar bill from his wallet. He figured it would give Kate more than enough to pay the bill and pay for a cab home. He felt bad for abandoning their date so quickly but he had no choice, if he stuck it out he knew he would change his mind and not go to Maddie.

'What do you think you're doing?' Kate glared at him as she saw him approaching the table with the money in his hand.

'I'm really sorry Kate but there's somewhere I need to be, I should never have agreed to come out on this date in the first place and I'm sorry for wasting your time,' he placed the money on the table in front of her and she quickly snatched it away. 'I only came because I felt sorry for you, you're not man enough for me,' she snapped whilst sending him a hateful glare which he deserved for being a jerk.

Rather than standing in a crowded restaurant arguing with someone he really couldn't care less about he gave her one last apologetic look before turning on his heel and heading for the door. There was only one place that he wanted to be right now.

Maddie's POV

She placed the empty tub of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream down on the coffee table in front of her and threw herself back against the couch whilst pulling her shirt up slightly to allow her bloated stomach some room to breathe. She'd eaten the whole fucking tub in less than twenty minutes without stopping for a break and now she was paying for her gluttony with stomach pains and a huge wave of nausea washing over her.

The urge to run to the toilet and vomit was almost overwhelming but she remained on the couch and took some deep breathes in an attempt to stave off the sickness, she really hated being sick, she always had. She couldn't count how many times her dad had had to stay up with her through the night holding her hand and trying to keep her calm as she'd puked. She'd loved her grandparents so much and indeed Louise but when she was ill it was her father that she'd always wanted by her side.

She'd always looked up to him and respected him for how he'd faced up to his responsibilities as a father. A lot of men in his position would have just paid their child support without wanting to be a part of their kid's life but he'd always been there for her. That's why she didn't want to believe that he'd worked out her feelings for Jake and tried to set him up with someone else in an attempt to stop anything escalating but she knew damn well that he'd figured everything out for himself. He'd hurt her so much and what hurt even more was the fact that it didn't seem like he wanted her to ever be happy. What did he want her to do? Go through life alone having no one to come home to or love her? There had been a time where she thought that the single life would be better for her considering how manic her career was but now that she knew Jake that had all changed. He made her happy, he helped ease the stress and tension that came from such a difficult job and most importantly he understood her.

She wasn't expecting her dad to be happy about how she felt but part of her had always believed that he could eventually come to terms with a relationship between her and Jake once he saw how well Jake treated her. Of course these thoughts were just a pure fantasy on her part, she hadn't seen him for three long weeks and they were slowly drifting apart. Now he was out on this date set up by her dad fuck knows what would happen. Whilst she was sprawled out on the couch in a food coma he could be sprawled out on some cheap motel bed getting his dick sucked.

She remained on the couch in the same position for a while until her eyelids started to feel heavier and heavier. She switched off the depressing music she'd been listening to and slowly rose from the couch. As she started to walk towards her bedroom she stopped in her tracks when she heard a loud knocking on her front door. At first she decided to ignore it, it was a Friday night and she'd had drunken assholes knocking on her door before and running away. She was almost at her bedroom door when someone knocked again but this time they followed up the knocking by calling her name.

She froze on the spot holding onto the door frame for support. Just hearing his voice almost made her lose every single one of her senses. She tried to get herself together but knew that she looked like complete shit after crying so much.

'Maddie I know you're in there, please open the door!'

He started to knock again and she knew it wouldn't be long until Mrs Green from across the hallway would call security if he didn't stop shouting and knocking. Summoning up the courage from somewhere she quickly made her way to the front door before Stan the night security man came to take him away. Unlocking the door and unhooking the chain she took a deep breath before opening the door and coming face to face with Jake.


	11. Chapter 11

******Well thanks so much for all the reviews and follows! It means a lot to me to see how positive the reaction has been so far. Now I know some of you have been antsy for some love...this is a LONG update but I think you might be happy by the end of it *wink wink* Please review as always, thank you! **

**Chapter Eleven**

**Maddie's POV**

'Can I come in?'

It felt like an eternity had passed since she'd opened the front door but in reality it had only been a few seconds. She should have greeted him with a nice 'Hello!' or 'Hey come in!' but she hadn't said anything at all, she'd just stared at him. She'd missed his face, his beautiful blue eyes that drew her in every time she saw him, she'd missed his laugh, his smell….everything. And now he was here standing at her front door, she didn't know what to say.

Without uttering a word she stood back from the door and allowed Jake to brush past her and head into the apartment. Closing the door behind her she took a deep breath and decided to ask the first question that needed answering, even if she wasn't going to like the response she had to know. 'I thought you were meant to be on a date? Why are you here?'

She tried not to sound bitter or angry at the fact he'd gone out with another woman, she had no right to be, but she found it hard to hide the disdain in her voice as she thought about some other chick touching him or kissing him.

'The date was one huge fucking disaster to tell you the truth,' he sighed before shaking his head. 'I should never have agreed to it, when it comes to your dad, fuck when it comes to any tough situation I don't have the balls to stand up for myself.'

'Yeah I bet it was just terrible being set up with someone who probably wanted to fuck your brains out,' this time she made no attempt to hide the venom and anger in her voice.

'Why the hell are you giving me attitude? I'm single! I don't have to answer to you!' He snapped back at her, his words just made her all the more ready to fight.

'Oh so you have NO fucking problem standing up to a woman then huh? It's just men that make your balls go into hiding, or just Hansen men?'

'I didn't come here to fight with you…..'

'Well tough shit because I'm pissed off! You always let people walk all over you Jake! Why do you have to be so fucking nice all the time huh? Why can't you just stand up for yourself and tell my dad to go fuck himself?' Her voice started to shake as her emotions started to get the best of her once again. She didn't know why she was shouting at him, it was her dad she should be shouting at but somehow Jake had ended up in her firing line instead.

'Why would you want me to say that to your dad?' She was shocked by how calm and controlled he was, she'd just practically ripped his head off yet he seemed so relaxed. Now the tables had turned, how was she meant to explain herself to him without telling him the truth?

His gaze was too much for her to bear so she turned and started to walk away. Before she could get some space between them she felt him grab her arm, not rough but with just enough force to stop her in her tracks. 'Look at me Maddie.'

She shook her head without turning around, she was determined not to look at him. 'Why won't you look at me?' His voice was so quiet that she barely heard him. Her whole body shivered when she felt him place his hands on her shoulders. 'Maddie, please….'

Before she could stop herself she started to cry again, that's all she had done all fucking night. She tried as hard as she could to not make a sound but she couldn't even do that. Without warning Jake had taken her into his arms and her face was buried against his strong chest as she sobbed against him. He probably thought that she had completely fucking lost it, heck even she was starting to think that she was going crazy.

'I never came here to upset you or make you angry, I'm so sorry,' his apology made her look up at him. She felt guilty for being so horrible to him in the first place, none of this was his fault and the blame couldn't be laid upon him.

'You don't have anything to be sorry for. I'm angry at my stupid, selfish fucking dad, not you,' she replied before looking down at the ground. She felt one of his hands leave her lower back and shook a little when she felt that hand come to rest upon her cheek.

'You should be angry at me, I've lied to you,' his hand moved from her cheek to her chin, gently he made her look up at him by pulling her head up. She lost the ability to speak as her eyes gazed upon his. 'You're right, I have let people walk over me and I haven't let myself say what I've wanted to say. I don't want to lie or hide anymore, even if it means losing you for good.'

'You won't lose me,' she somehow managed to churn out the words even though her whole body felt like it was going into shock. Could this really be happening or had she fallen into a temporary food coma after all the ice cream she'd eaten?

He smiled warmly at her before stroking her cheek again. 'I know how hard this is gonna be for both of us but I can't pretend that I don't need you, that I don't want you because I do. The stupid fucking date proved it. I sat there listening to her talking and all I could think about was you. I wanted her to be you.'

She tentatively took one of her hands and placed it on his cheek so she could reciprocate his actions and show him that she was feeling exactly as he was because this time she couldn't form words.

'I love you Maddie Hansen and I don't care who knows it now. I'm ready to take whatever I have to from your dad, from your family. I just need to be with you,' she felt tears running down her cheeks but these weren't sad tears, they were happy, ecstatic ones.

'I really hope this isn't a dream or a food coma hallucination,' Jake looked at her like she had completely lost her mind, unsurprisingly! 'I'm sorry, I just never thought I'd hear you say those things, not to me anyway.' She cupped his cheek in her hand and smiled back at him before pressing her forehead against his. 'I'm ready too. I love you.'

As soon as she finished speaking Jake's mouth started to move towards hers and she knew what was going to happen next. Her senses were overwhelmed with different sensations as she felt Jake's lips connect with hers. She placed her other hand on his face in an attempt to steady herself as her pulse began to race and aching desire started to flow through her.

As she started to gently stroke both his cheeks with her hands she felt his tongue tentatively seek entrance to her mouth which was more than willing to welcome it. A groan escaped from her lips as her tongue started to go on an exploration of its own. Within seconds she'd moved her hands from his face and tangled them in his shaggy hair. Their tongues started to clash as the kiss became more and more intense and passionate. Her entire body started to heat up as his hands wandered down her back and came to rest on her curvaceous hips. As much as she was enjoying the kiss she was desperate to feel his soft hands somewhere else so after a few more minutes of the most erotic kissing she had ever experienced in her life she pulled away.

A frown appeared on his face as she broke out into a cheeky grin. 'You've um, you've never seen my bedroom have you?'

'No, no I haven't. I think it's a little rude that you've never shown it to me before to be honest,' a smirk crossed his face as she bit down on her lip and held out both her hands to him. 'Well seeing as you might just be staying here a little more often, I guess I should give you a tour huh?'

She started to pull him towards her room even though she had no idea just how her legs were even working at this point, the kiss had pretty much turned them to jelly and if his kiss could do that to her…..She was going to be in for a real treat!

**Jake's POV**

He couldn't take his eyes off her as she led him to her bedroom. He'd dreamt about making love to her ever since he'd first locked eyes with her and now it was finally going to happen. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't feeling nervous because he was. He'd never been with someone who'd meant so much to him before and he just hoped that he could satisfy her because he knew damn well that she was going to satisfy him with ease.

'So this is it,' when they reached the bedroom Maddie pulled back from him and bit down on her lip. He could tell that she was also nervous and he wanted to let her know that they didn't have to rush into anything, if she wasn't ready to do anything then he'd wait.

Closing the small distance between them he wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed a tender kiss on her lips before pulling away again. 'We don't have to do anything, not if you don't want to.'

She smiled at him and pressed her forehead against his. 'This is just one of the things I love about you,' he sighed as she stared at him intently.

**Maddie's POV**

Her hands were eager to roam over every inch of his body as he kissed the life out of her. Wrapping her arms around his waist she started to pull him backwards towards her bed without breaking the kiss that was making her head spin. She was so lost in the kiss that when the back of her legs came into contact with her bed she lost her balance and pulled Jake down with her as they fell backwards onto the bed. The kiss was finally broken as they both started to giggle like horny teenagers. It was a nice moment for her to break the slight tension that she felt about getting intimate with him.

Despite her loud mouth and her tough exterior she had the same battles with her self-esteem that most women faced. She wished that her wide hips would be a little thinner, she had the odd stretch mark on her body from her battles with yo-yo dieting, she had some spots here and there too. Coupled with the fact that none of her previous boyfriends had managed to satisfy her and a few had said some pretty nasty things about her looks and her ability in bed after breaking up it led to some pretty negative thoughts that forever floated around her brain.

'You nervous?' It was as if he had the ability to read her mind. She stared up at him and placed one of her hands on his cheek, 'A little, it's been a while since I've done this.'

He pressed a kiss on her chin and let one of his long fingers run across her lower lip. 'It's been a while for me too. How about we take it slow and see how far we get?'

She responded by pressing a kiss against his chin, 'I like the sound of that.'

Wrapping her arms around his neck she proceeded to kiss him once again. She wasn't used to a man being so slow and patient with her. Her exes would have had her clothes off by now and they'd already be going at it without any foreplay to prepare her.

She moaned her disapproval when Jake eventually broke the kiss which she'd been enjoying but her moans soon turned to pleasurable ones when his mouth started to trail kisses across her neck. Her hands tangled themselves in his shaggy hair as he started to kiss a trail down her neck. 'Can I take your shirt off?'

'Only if I can take yours off too,' she replied before Jake pushed himself off the bed so she could rise up to a sitting position. Before she could stand up to remove his shirt she watched as he removed it himself and threw it down on the floor. She couldn't stop a groan escaping as she stared at his bare chest.

Rising up from the bed she tried to put on her best vixen look as she started to pull up her shirt. His eyes began to travel over her body as her flesh started to be revealed, she just hoped that he liked what he saw as much as she liked what she had seen of him so far.

Pulling her shirt up over her bed she tried to keep calm and not look scared to death. Once removed she let the garment drop to the ground as Jake's eyes continued to explore her body. He hadn't puked and he didn't look disgusted so that was definitely a good sign. Finding confidence from somewhere she decided to go further and remove her bra.

Placing her hands behind her back she quickly unclasped the black bra that covered up her girls. As soon as her breasts were revealed to him she heard him moan. He'd moaned over her breasts! If she wouldn't look like a complete fool she would have broken into a happy dance on the spot!

'God you're so beautiful Maddie and you don't even know it,' before she knew what was happening Jake started to kiss her once again. He slowly started to let his hands wander up and down her now naked back as her own hands hungrily explored his firm chest.

Without breaking the kiss she slowly and gently pulled him back with her so they could lie down on the bed. His hands caressing her skin made it difficult to remain standing so she had to act before they gave way altogether.

As soon as they were on the bed and he was on top of her again his lips left hers to focus on her bare collarbone. Spreading soft, gentle kisses over her skin she felt his hands start to wander over her stomach, the area which bothered her the most. Normally when someone touched her there she would tense up but this time she didn't. His kisses and his touch felt too good to make him stop. She was comfortable with him, more comfortable than she had ever been in her entire life.

His kisses started to trail lower and lower until he worked his way down to her breasts. She looked down and saw that her nipples were already rock hard, partly due to the cold but mostly down to Jake's actions with his mouth and hands.

In a silent conversation he looked up at her to seek permission for him to go further, with a smile she granted the acceptance that he sought. Not taking his eyes off of hers he slowly leaned forward and captured one of her hard nipples in his mouth.

She tried to keep her eyes open so she could watch him but as soon as she felt his tongue swirl around she couldn't focus at all. Laying back against the firm mattress she started to let out little gasps and groans as Jake used his mouth on one nipple whilst his hand started to tickle and tease the other.

After spending a few minutes sucking and licking one nipple he let his mouth do the same to its twin. She'd never got much satisfaction from her breasts being played with before, it was like he had cast some sort of a spell on her but she was more than happy to be under his command.

As her moans got louder with each flick of his tongue against her firm peak she let out a heavy sigh when his mouth moved from her nipple and started to kiss a trail over her stomach. She immediately used her elbows to sit up slightly so she could watch what he was doing and despite how fantastic she felt she couldn't help but feel self-conscious about him focusing on an area she hated so much.

Sensing the change in her he stopped what he was doing and looked up. 'What's wrong baby?' She shook her head and tried not to sound foolish and ruin the moment by whining or getting upset. 'I'm not a big fan of that area that's all.'

'Well,' he pressed a kiss against her stomach again whilst keeping his eyes fixed on hers, 'I'm a big fan of every inch of you and I don't want to leave any part of you untouched.'

Her heart pounded against her chest. Over the years she had learned how to read people and she could tell straight away if someone was just throwing her a bullshit line to please her and he wasn't. He was sincere.

Without saying anything she ran her hands down to his head and started to stroke his scalp whilst coaxing his head back down to her stomach so he could continue kissing and exploring her body. As his mouth started to gently lick and suck around her navel she started to twist his hair in her hands. He licked a trail down to the waistband of her jeans and before he could even look at her she found herself lifting her hips off the bed so he could remove the denim restraints.

He got onto his knees on the bed as he unbuttoned her jeans as quickly as he could. From the position he was in she could clearly see the huge bulge in his trousers and looking at it made her panties even moister than they were already.

When her jeans were removed she made an attempt to sit up so she could start reciprocating the touches and kisses that Jake had smeared all over her body but right away he shook his head and gently guided her back down against the mattress. 'I'm nowhere near done yet.'

Settling back against the sheets she allowed Jake to open her legs and watched through hooded eyes as he moved down the bed and lay on his stomach. His eyes seemed to be transfixed on her panties, probably because he could already see how wet she was beyond her cotton clad cage. Rather than using his mouth he started to trace patterns on her inner thighs with his soft fingertips. She couldn't really believe that he was so fascinated by her body, when she watched him she could see the mix of love and lust in his eyes and it made her confidence soar.

'I need to take these off,' his voice somehow sounded deeper as his fingers moved from her thighs to her pussy. His touch was so light that she could barely feel it but it was enough to send shivers down her spine.

'Take them off then,' she breathlessly replied. No sooner had she given him the go ahead her panties were off in one swift move, evidently he'd taken a few panties off in his time…..

'So wet…' his voice trailed off as he stared down at her exposed pussy which she could feel was absolutely soaking already.

'I can't help it if you turn me on so fucking much!' She replied with a grin on her face.

'Let's see if I can turn you on even more then,' he responded with a cheeky grin of his own before taking her breath away completely.

She'd expected him to explore her using his fingers, she was wrong. Instead he was using his warm, slick tongue to delicately explore her folds and she couldn't describe how amazing it felt.

His tongue had found her clit immediately. In the past she'd had to provide guys with a fucking GPS system so they could find it, that's if they could be bothered to actually do it. Jake…..Jesus he was like the most perfect man in the whole fucking world!

She wanted to watch him do his thing but she couldn't move at all. All she could do was cry out and groan as his tongue flicked over her clit whilst he placed his fingers either side of her folds to open her up a little more.

'Mmm so fucking sweet, I knew you would be,' he placed kisses against her inner thigh as he briefly took his attention away from her aching pussy but he soon went back to work on her.

Her whole body was tingling from head to toe and she knew she wouldn't be able to hold herself together for very long. She reached down to his head and placed her hands lightly on his hair, smoothing it as she tried to gather enough strength to lift her head up and watch him.

His tongue wasn't content just to focus in on her clit. Whilst his mouth worked its way all over her pussy he placed a finger on her clit and started to rub small circles around it.

'Oh Jake, Jake!' Forcing herself to move she pulled her head up to look down and watch as her lover started to use his tongue to dart in and out of her pussy.

Her gasps and moans were met with loud grunts of pleasure from Jake as he pushed her ever closer to an orgasm she would never forget for as long as she lived. Pressing his head down and thrusting her hips forward she started to grind against him. Her whole body felt like it was about to collapse inwards as she started to feel the beginnings of an earth shattering climax hitting her. She crossed the line with loud, frantic screams of his name as she looked down and locked eyes with him.

Falling back against the bed she squirmed and writhed, trying desperately to fill her lungs with air. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion around her as she attempted to get back in control, she had to remember that Jake had not received any satisfaction yet and she had to return the favour.

As her breathing started to come back to normal she reached down to pull Jake's face from her slick mound. As soon as he was face to face with her once again she didn't hesitate to push her tongue past his lips, the taste of her own juices on his tongue just served to make her all the more keen to make sure he received the same level of gratification that she had.

Moaning into his mouth she drew on her reserved strength to spin them around on the bed so that she was on top of him. Now it was her turn to take control.

**Jake's POV**

He groaned into his sweet Maddie's mouth as her tongue swept against his. All the women he'd been with had never wanted to kiss him after he'd given them oral so it had shocked him when she had pulled him up to kiss her. Her tongue seemed desperate to chase the flavours of herself inside his mouth and that just served to make him even hornier than he already was, if that were even possible!

Laying back against the covers he happily gave in to her obvious need to take control of the proceedings, he just hoped that she would get his jeans of soon otherwise she'd have to cut them off. His cock was throbbing against the denim clad cage which it was trapped in and he was desperate for it to be freed.

As if sensing his need she pulled away from his mouth and placed a quick kiss against his cheek before she lowered her kisses to his neck whilst her long nails started to lightly drag themselves across his sweat stained chest.

'God you're so fucking hot,' she whispered the words against his skin but he heard every word. As her mouth moved lower and lower with each passing minute it was almost too much for him to bear. When her kisses passed across his stomach and down to his waist he ran his hands down to her long red hair and pulled it back from her face so he could see her beautiful features.

Looking up at him with her wide open eyes she started to undo his belt. She never took her eyes away from his as she unhooked the belt then started to undo his zipper delicately so she wouldn't hurt him. When his restraints were loose enough he quickly lifted his hips off the bed as she pulled down his jeans and his underpants in one go. Throwing them both to the floor he got a huge kick out of seeing the look of desire and lust on her face as she stared down at his length which was now lying flat against his stomach.

He'd been blessed with a well-endowed penis and like the other women he'd been with Maddie was obviously impressed. Some of his nerves came from past experiences where sex had been uncomfortable for his partners because of his size, he didn't want Maddie to go through that. He just hoped he could turn her on enough to make things go smoothly.

'Someone's a little excited huh?' He kept his eyes fixed on her face as she settled herself down between his legs. She slowly licked her lower lip as one of her hands started to move towards his cock. When he felt her cool hand wrap itself around his boiling hot shaft he almost lost it there and then. 'God….So big…..I bet you're gonna feel so good in my little pussy.'

He couldn't stop the loud groan from escaping his lips as her words and actions started to make the room spin. Somehow he managed to remain focused on her as she took her hand away from his cock. Groaning at the loss of touch he was soon sent to Cloud Nine again when her mouth engulfed the slick head of his dick.

'Fuckkkkkkkk!' It had been so long since he'd had a mouth wrapped around his cock that he'd forgotten how good it felt. Coupled with the fact that it was his sweet Maddie giving him head and not some random chick he found it hard to resist the urge to come into her mouth and end things before they had really begun.

His muscles tensed and his body started to shake as he fought against the release he so desperately needed. Watching through hooded eyes he cursed as she started to swirl her tongue around his head whilst one of her hands gripped his shaft and lightly stroked up and down. Bit by bit she started to take him inside her throat. If she was even a little intimidated by his size she certainly wasn't showing it as she groaned and hungrily moved her mouth up and down his shaft as far as her throat would allow her to go.

She was providing him with the blowjob of his life and his loud cries didn't care how many of her neighbours knew it. His hips started to slowly and gently thrust upwards as she pulled back right up to the head and allowed him to control the pace with his thrusts. No other woman had let him do that, probably because of his size but she was unfazed by it all.

He kept the thrusts soft and gentle as he didn't want to hurt her or cause her any discomfort. As his hands tangled themselves in her hair he could feel that his control was slipping away, if he continued he was going to climax and as much as he needed his release he didn't want it to be like this. He wanted, NEEDED, to be inside her.

Pulling his cock away from her Maddie grumbled as he forced himself to sit up and pull her up towards him. 'If I come now it'll take a while for me to recover. I wanna make love to you so bad Maddie.'

He could be so cheesy at times but he couldn't help it, not where she was concerned anyway. For the first time in his life he was with a woman that he wanted to make love with not just fuck.

She smiled at him sweetly before lightly running one of her hands across his cheek. She'd looked so confident just a few moments ago but now he could tell that she was feeling slightly apprehensive and he worried that he'd said too much. 'If you don't want to we don't have to…..'

'Ssshhh,' she pressed a finger against his lips and shook her head. 'Of course I want to. I love you.' Pressing a quick kiss on his lips she moved up the bed and reached over to her bedside table. Pulling the top drawer open she put her hand inside and rummaged around for a few seconds before finding what she was looking for. 'I'm not on any birth control so you'll have to wear these until I get something sorted out if that's okay? I kinda wasn't expecting this!'

He smiled back at her and nodded, as nice as it would be to not use one he definitely wasn't ready to welcome any little Jake's or Maddie's into the world just yet, obviously she wasn't either.

Whilst she tore open the wrapper and pulled out the condom he crawled up the bed to position himself between her legs. Scooping up some of the moisture from her still soaking wet pussy he couldn't resist smearing it over his now throbbing length before she handed him the condom. Using one hand to place it over his cock he let the other hand slowly rub over her erect clit which made her moan again. When the condom was on he looked straight at her before rubbing the tip of his length over her pussy.

'Oh God Jake…..' she trailed off but kept her eyes focused on him as he placed himself just outside her entrance. 'Please baby, please.'

Hearing her words of encouragement he slowly started to push himself inside her amazingly tight channel. His stomach started to churn as he got a few inches inside and noticed her flinch. 'You want me to stop?' She fiercely shook her head, 'No I'll be fine, it's been a while that's all. Don't stop, I want you.'

He decided to temporarily ignore her and instead reached one of his hands down to her pussy to start rubbing circles around her clit. She bit down on her lip and cupped her breasts with her hands which made him swear under his breathe. He could feel her opening relax a little so he pushed a little deeper until she started to tense up again. Increasing the speed of his rubbing he waited until she'd relaxed again to move a little deeper. He repeated this several times until with one last push he was fully seated within her.

Moving from his kneeling position once fully inside her he braced himself using his hands and lay down on top of her as she started to squirm beneath him. Her hands left her breasts and rested on his ass cheeks as she ran her lips over his cheek. 'Make love to me Jake.'

He didn't need to be told twice. He slowly let half of his length slide out of her sticky sex before he pushed back in causing her to squeeze his ass cheeks whilst moaning out loud. 'Oh fuck Jake…'

Pressing his forehead against hers he focused on her eyes which met his as he repeated the same action. 'So tight…..' He whispered against her lips as he felt her hips gently start to rock against him.

Her little moans and squeeks told him that she was feeling no pain and that gave him the confidence to go further. Removing his entire length from her core this time he pushed himself into her with one deep thrust in an attempt to find the spongy spot inside her. He knew he'd found it when her eyes widened and he felt a gush of fluid hitting the tip of the condom. Her nails started to score against his ass cheeks as he continued to fully remove himself from her to thrust back in again.

The mixture of pain and pleasure soon had him heavily sweating and groaning above her as he attempted to stave off his own climax to make sure she reached hers first. Her hips continued to rock against him as he finally found a rhythm which suited the two of them.

Her room was filled with their loud moans, groans and curses as he got lost inside his beautiful lover. He'd dreamt about it for so long but none of the dreams he'd had could actually compare to how he was feeling right now. The smell of her sweat soaked skin, the feel of her soft skin beneath him, the noises she was making, her fingernails scratching him, her tight wet channel squeezing the life out of him, it was all amazing.

'Oh Jake! Please don't stop! Don't STOP!' Her hands moved from his ass cheeks up to his arms. Her grip was vice like as her eyes started to roll back in her head. Knowing that she was almost there he slowed down his thrusts but made them that little bit harder in the process. Scoring his arms with her nails he knew she was at the point of no return when her channel started to pound against his length. 'YES YES YES!'

She kept her eyes open and screamed out so loud that he was sure her whole apartment shook. The wild pounding of her muscles against his sensitive cock was driving him crazy and he knew he couldn't hold back the climax that had been brewing for so long.

'Maddie, Maddie I'm gonna come…Gonna….FUCKKKKKK!'

Burying himself inside her over and over again he finally stilled when the room started to spin all around him. Collapsing in a heap on top of her he felt her arms come around him and hold him as he tried to recover from the most intense orgasm he'd ever had.

After a few minutes of deep breaths he was finally able to summon up enough strength to move and look at his beautiful woman again. As soon as his eyes met hers he felt his stomach twinge, he really couldn't find the words to ever describe to her just how much she meant to him so he decided to go with the three that were on the tip of his tongue.

'I love you.' She smiled up at him and pressed a kiss to his sweat soaked forehead before looking into his eyes again. 'I love you too.'


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks for the reviews guys! Shorter chapter but I can't believe how easy it was to write this one! Hope you like, please review :)**

Chapter Twelve

Jake's POV

'Jacob Anderson stopppp! I've just showered and now you're getting me all hot and bothered again!'

He ignored her plea and kept pressing kisses against her neck as she combed her hair in front of her mirror. They'd spent the past twenty four hours in bed making love countless times but still he wanted more.

'Oh Jake please, let me have a rest for a while hmm? Once I've had some food I'll be ready for round whatever it is,' she half turned in her chair to plant a kiss on his cheek before turning back to face the mirror.

He knew he wasn't going to change her mind so instead of bugging her he decided to wrap a towel around himself and head into the kitchen where he could make a start on some food.

The past day had been so amazing that neither of them had had a chance to talk or think much about what lie ahead for them. Now that they were taking a rest he knew that they'd have to discuss going to tell her family what was going on between them and that was part of the reason why he'd been keen to stay in the bedroom to continue making love.

They'd had a wonderful, happy time for just one day. Once her family knew about them he had a feeling that the next however long wouldn't be so happy for them. His family he already knew wouldn't be a problem, his mother in particular really liked Maddie and she was the toughest one to please. But Maddie's family…..He wished he had better medical coverage than he currently had because he was sure he was going to need it once Edgar was through with him.

Deciding to try and put his fears behind for just a little while longer he went into her kitchen and started to search her fridge to see what he could make for them. Finding some fresh pasta, a jar of pesto sauce and a couple of chicken breasts he decided to make some pesto and chicken spaghetti.

He was halfway through preparing the chicken by cutting it up and seasoning it when Maddie walked out of her bedroom. Her wet hair was now tied up in a bun and she was wearing a long purple dressing gown which clung to her curves in all the right places. He was sure the chicken would also be seasoned with a little bit of drool too, damn she looked so fucking good.

'What's cooking good looking?' She sat down on one of the high stools at the breakfast bar and rested her chin in her hands as she stared at him.

'Chicken and pesto spaghetti, I thought some pasta would give us plenty of energy to keep us going for another day,' he smiled before going back to cutting up the chicken.

'You know that we're going to have to talk about telling my dad at some point between all this love making don't you?' He stopped what he was doing once again and sighed heavily, he should have guessed that this was going to be their first topic of conversation. 'I know you don't want to think about it and I'm not exactly excited about telling him but the sooner it's done the sooner we can stop worrying and panicking about what he's going to do or say.'

'And what if he says that he won't let you go near you brothers and sister again? That he'll disown you for seeing me….'

'I am NOT changing my mind about us if that's what you think might happen. He can't stop me from seeing them anyway! Louise is their mother and she's on our side. Nothing he can say or do will change the fact that I love you, that I want to be with you.' He remained at the kitchen counter and watched as Maddie rose from her seat and walked over to him. Placing a hand on his cheek she smiled before pressing a tender kiss on his lips. 'I'm not a child anymore Jake, I don't allow my father to dictate everything I do.'

He sighed heavily before wrapping his arms around her waist. 'Why does this have to be so fucking complicated?'

'Everything is complicated when you're a Hansen, you'd better be prepared for plenty of craziness.'

'And you'd better be prepared to have an unemployed boyfriend,' one of his main concerns was just what the fuck he was going to do without a job. He didn't have any qualifications and with his past it wasn't like people were going to be fighting over themselves to offer him jobs. He knew that Edgar would not want him anywhere near the boat once everything came out so the only thing he could think of doing was to head up to Dutch before the season started to try and find a place on another boat.

'I'll help as much as I can, you and your family. There's always plenty of overtime being offered at work. Plus now that I have you I'll be saving so much money not buying batteries….' She smirked as her hands ran down his back and rested on his ass cheeks, she had a thing for his ass.

'I thought you needed a rest?' He let his mouth wander to her neck as he lightly sucked on her vanilla scented flesh.

'The sight of raw chicken turns me on what can I say?'

Pushing her up against the kitchen counter he easily opened up her dressing gown which fell to the ground as his hands started to wander further down her naked body which was still a little moist from the shower.

He felt her hands clamp down on his shoulders and start attempting to push him down, she obviously wasn't in the mood to hang around. 'Tell me what you want.' He whispered into her skin as he let his mouth trail down to the top of her breasts.

'Lick my pussy Jake, please.'

She'd asked for him to do this several times during the many hours they'd spent in her bed and he didn't mind one bit. He couldn't get enough actually. Knowing that he could satisfy her gave him such a huge thrill, he wanted to keep her satisfied forever.

Not wanting to keep his lady waiting he fell to his knees on the cold tiled floor and looked up at her as he was about to run his tongue over her pussy. She opened her legs a little more to allow him better access before running her hands down to his still wet hair and threading her fingers through it.

As soon as his tongue made contact with her juicy pussy he felt her whole body shake as a loud moan escaped from her lips. He let himself get lost in what he was doing to her body as her moans and cries continued to get louder with each swipe of his tongue against her stiff clit.

Both of them were so lost in the moment that neither one of them heard a set of keys jangling in the lock.

Maddie's POV

'Oh Jake,' her body shook with pleasure as her lovers tongue swirled around the erect nub of her clit. No one had managed to make her feel anywhere near as good as he could. When he touched her she felt like she could fly, she felt loved, she felt safe.

Her fingers threaded themselves through his damp hair as her body shivered against his mouth. She was so lost in her world that all she could hear were her own moans and his groans as he hungrily lapped at her aching pussy.

Then her body froze completely. Not because of what Jake was doing to her but because a new sound had jolted her out of her delight. Her front door had been slammed shut.

Her eyes quickly looked down at Jake who immediately backed away from her and wiped his mouth. The hairs on the back of her neck rose as the cold, calm voice that she knew so well spoke from the doorway.

'Cover yourself up,' she quickly picked up her robe from the floor and tightly wrapped it around her body before turning to face her father who stared back at her coldly. 'There's no point in trying to hide from me Junior.'

Jake rose from the floor and immediately pulled her back behind him. 'Don't even think about touching her….'

'Oh Junior it's not gonna be her that I fucking touch but you'll keep! For now, I don't wanna hear ONE more fucking word from YOU! This is between me and my daughter! Ya know, the one you've been screwing behind my back for fuck knows how long!' He was shaking with rage, she'd seen him angry on more than one occasion but never as mad as this.

'One day dad, that's all. We were going to tell you…..'

'Oh I bet you fucking were! 'Hey dad, just calling to let you know I'm fucking your greenhorn!'

'It's not like that Edgar….'

'I SAID I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOU FUCKING TALK!' Storming across the room her dad attempted to launch himself at Jake but she got in his way.

'What are you gonna do dad? Hit me? Because I am not letting you hurt him!' She stood almost face to face with her father whose face was getting redder by the minute but she knew he wouldn't touch her. 'Jake go into my room so dad and I can talk.'

'I don't wanna leave you alone with him….'

'We'll be fine Jake, he's not gonna hurt me,' she stared at her father whose gaze moved to Jake as he started to walk towards her room. 'Touch him and I'll call the police and have you arrested and I won't ever speak to you again.'

He took his attention away from Jake and stared at her coldly. 'What makes you think that I want to speak to you after this?'

She swallowed hard, he'd said plenty of hurtful things to her in the past but nothing as hurtful as this. 'Because I'm your daughter and I love you. I haven't done this to hurt you dad…'

'You could have fucking fooled me.' He moved away from her and took a seat on her couch. She followed and sat down next to him.

'I can't help how I feel, neither can Jake. I know it's not exactly ideal but he makes me happy dad! Isn't that what you want for me? For me to be happy and have someone to love and take care of me?'

'And how is he gonna do that when he'll be away fishing? You think I want that life for you? You sitting at home wondering if he's gonna come back? Raising a family on your own?'

'So what do you want me to do? Forget about him and find someone else? Someone that won't make me half as happy as he can? You tried to stop this from happening by setting Jake up with that girl last night but you can't dad! We love each other and that won't change whether you like it or not. You can't control my life, you can't live my life for me. Why is being a fisherman's wife okay for Louise and June but not for me huh?'

'So you're marrying the guy now?'

'No! Jesus Christ dad we've been together for one day! I know you think it's been longer but it hasn't! Yes we've talked and we got close as friends but nothing happened until yesterday. Your little plan to get him away from me actually backfired on you so I should be thanking you for doing what you did actually. Anyway, you still haven't answered my fucking question!'

'You seriously need me to give you a list of fucking reasons why dating a fisherman is a bad thing? Come on Maddie! You grew up with me being away for months at a time, you saw me coming home drunk, your new boyfriend used to be a drug addict! Chances are he'll relapse at some point and you think I want my daughter to have to deal with that?'

'A few months ago you were busy telling Louise how fucking wonderful you thought he was so obviously you don't think he's that bad! You're just making up bullshit excuses not to like him because you don't want me to be with anyone! That'd just be perfect for you wouldn't it? Because let's face it, no one is ever gonna be good enough for me in your eyes! I'm sick and tired of this shit dad and I can't take it anymore. It was fine when the guys I was dating were just dicks that I didn't care too much about but it's different now. I love him dad, I love him so much. I don't expect you to play happy families with him right away but just give us a chance dad, that's all I want,' she reached her hand over to him but he pushed it away and shook his head.

'I'm not gonna pretend to be happy for you Maddie and I'm not gonna sit around and watch as you throw your life away for some dumb kid with no prospects, you're worth so much more Maddie,' he stared at her long and hard, this was his ultimatum to her and as difficult as it was for her she knew what she had to do.

'I'm not changing my mind dad. If you can't accept that Jake and I are going to be together then leave and don't bother contacting me until you come to terms with this,' she wanted to get up and punch him in the face but what good would it do?

He continued to stare at her for another minute or so in an attempt to guilt trip her into changing her mind but that wasn't going to happen. Being with Jake was her chance to be happy and she couldn't let it slip through her fingers however much she had to sacrifice in return. Louise and her siblings would still be there even if her dad wasn't and that was down to him, not her.

When he finally came to the realisation that she wasn't going back on anything she had said he turned and began to walk out of the apartment. As he got to the doorway he turned around. 'Tell loverboy to come down and pick his shit up off the boat by tomorrow night otherwise I'm throwing it all overboard.' And with that announcement ringing in her ears, he was gone.


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks as always for the reviews and feedback guys! Sorry I always sound repetitive but it's true, reviews make me very happy and I am glad you're all into the story as I love writing it! Long update again which flits between POV's a little! Please leave your comments as always, thanks! x**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Maddie's POV**

She stared out of the car window and into the park that they'd stopped by at a red light. The play area was full of children and their parents but only a couple of people caught her eye. The little blonde girl looked like she was only a couple of years old and pushing her gently on the swing was who she assumed was her father. She remembered times when she'd gone to the park with her dad and they'd stayed out all day until she fell asleep in his arms. When he'd come back from long fishing trips for the first few weeks he'd never leave her side. She'd woken up many nights as a child to find him either asleep on the floor in her room or on the chair alongside her bed. Even when her mother had been her life she'd always, always been a daddy's girl.

He'd played such a huge part in her life and now it seemed like he wouldn't play any further part in it. A couple of days had passed by since her father had caught her and Jake together in her apartment and she'd tried to put a brave face on things for Jake. It's not like she wasn't happy because she was, she loved having him in her arms and waking up to see him staring at her. She loved being with him and having him around her but at the same time she was trying to deal with the emotions of everything that had been said by her father.

She was hurting and it was obvious that Jake had seen through her attempts at pretending that everything was completely fine. That's why he'd arranged to take her over to his parent's place thinking it would take her mind off of everything that was going on with her dad. It was a nice thought but deep down she knew that it was going to take a while for her to get used to the fact that her dad didn't want anything more to do with her.

'Mom's gonna be so happy when we tell her what's going on, I can't wait to see her face,' Jake started to talk just as the lights changed and he pulled off, leaving the park and the father and daughter behind.

'Well I don't think anyone could take it as badly as my dad has so that's a good thing,' she replied. 'Speaking of which, hadn't we better think about going to the boat to see if any of your stuff is still there? I know you said there wasn't anything there that you wanted to keep but I still think we should go just in case.'

'There's no point Maddie. Who's gonna take me on now that I've been fired by the Hansen's? They're probably busy phoning everyone that they know up in Dutch to give me a bad name. I'm just gonna have to try and find another job somewhere else, there are plenty of boats in Seattle, the pay won't be as good and I'll be away from home longer fishing cod, salmon, tuna, whatever, but I don't have much of a choice,' his shoulders slumped over as he drove and she couldn't help but feel a great amount of guilt. If it wasn't for her he would still have a job and he'd still be living out his dream. He'd sacrificed all that to be with her and now his family were going to suffer too.

'I'm sorry Jake, if I'd got to Sig first maybe I could have talked some sense into him. I should have known that dad would go straight round there to drop you in it,' that's exactly what he had done. In his quest to hurt her and Jake as much as possible he'd made sure that he had Sig on his side to veto Jake's firing. A couple of hours after he'd left her apartment she'd got a text message from Sig backing up what her father had said, Jake was persona non gratis as far as the Hansen men were concerned.

'You need to stop apologising baby, none of this is your fault. I made a choice and the past couple of days have been wonderful, I don't have any regrets,' she smiled at him as he briefly took his eyes off the road ahead to look at her. She'd never stop tingling every time he looked at her. He was a good man and as much as losing her father hurt, she wasn't going to change her mind. She needed Jake and he needed her and she wouldn't ever want to change the fact that they'd fallen in love with each other. She just wished that he'd worked on a different boat….

After navigating his way through the busy streets of Seattle they made it to Jake's parent's house an hour or so after setting off from her apartment. They'd already decided before leaving that he was going to fetch some stuff from home so he could continue to stay with her for a while. She hadn't officially asked him to move in with her yet because she didn't want him to feel like she was rushing him into anything and she certainly didn't want his parents to feel like they were losing their son to her. It hadn't been that long since Chelsea had passed away so they both wanted to tread carefully to make sure they didn't upset anyone else.

'You'd better be prepared for a big dinner, mom's probably been in the kitchen fussing around ever since I called to say we were coming over,' he smiled as he turned off the engine and took the keys out of the ignition.

'Mmm I need plenty to eat! After all the 'exercising' we've been doing I need some calories! I also need to warm up before we get going in future, some of the positions you had me in…..'

'Hey you were the one that put your leg behind your head! I just went along with it! It WAS a pretty awesome view I had though,' he winked before leaning over to place a kiss on her lips. 'You're okay with this aren't you?'

'With seeing your family?' Jake nodded. 'Of course I am, we have to tell them too. I want everyone to know about us so we don't have to hide anymore,' she smiled at him.

'I kinda like hiding in your apartment though, especially your bed,' he whispered the words into her ear and started to trail his fingers across one of her hands as she pulled back from him.

'Don't make me all hot and flustered just before we see your parents!' Before he could tease her again she quickly exited the car to get some much needed fresh air into her lungs.

Jake followed suit and she walked around to his side of the car so they could walk up to his parent's door together. Once reaching the front door she rang the bell and they waited for a couple of minutes until his mother came to answer.

'Oh Jake!' As soon as she opened the door his mother pulled Jake into a tight hug. Looking at his mother she could tell that something was wrong, it looked as though she had been crying as her eyes were all red and puffy.

'Mom? Is everything okay?' Jake obviously noticed that something wasn't right too and his mother pulled back from the hug and quickly focused her attention onto her, ignoring Jake's question completely.

'Maddie it's so good to see you again!' She was also greeted with a hug before they stepped inside the house.

Following his mother into the small lounge area she was surprised to find it empty. 'Where's dad? I thought he would be here too?' Jake asked as soon as he stepped inside the room.

'Oh he's had to go and help a friend with something, I don't know what exactly but it doesn't matter! He'll be back soon enough,' the forced smile on her face gave away the fact that she was lying.

'Mom, seriously. Tell me what's wrong,' Jake replied gently.

'Nothing's wrong Jake everything's fine!' She laughed before urging both of them to take a seat on the couch as she sat down on one of the two leather seats in the room. 'Now I want to know what's happening between you two and why you haven't been home these past few days.'

Jake stared at her for a second before slowly reaching his hand out to hers, she took his hand and intertwined her fingers with his before both of them looked at his mother who beamed back at them.

'Well we're kinda dating mom….'

'Kinda dating? Oh don't tell me you're doing, what's the phrase? The friends with benefits thing?' Her face had fallen at Jake's jittery announcement and he'd totally confused her but she couldn't help but stifle a giggle as Jake's face flushed bright red.

'No mom we're not friends with benefits! We're a real couple, boyfriend and girlfriend!' He quickly countered and right away the beaming smile reappeared on his mother's face.

'I knew you two would get together in the end!' She rose from her chair and went to hug Jake first before doing the same with her. 'Have you told your father yet?'

'Well he came to my apartment and found Jake there a couple of days ago so we had no choice but to tell him what was going on,' she replied.

'And as you can guess, I am now unemployed,' she lowered her head as he told his mother about his job status. She couldn't help but feel responsible for the tough financial time that his family was going to experience as a result of this job loss. She would have to sign up for all the extra work she could get to try and help them.

'But he didn't hurt either of you did he? You're both okay?'

'We're both fine mom, we're doing good,' Jake smiled at his mother.

'Well that's the main thing. I wouldn't want either of you getting hurt over this, money isn't important, I'm just glad you're happy and smiling again,' she was so delighted that his mother had taken the news of their relationship so well but a little sad at the same time.

Her first concern had been for her son's happiness, she was okay as long as he was too. In her mind, her dad should have reacted in the same away. She was happy and she was in love, even if her father didn't think that Jake was good enough for her seeing her happiness should have been enough for him to put his feelings to one side and just try to be happy for her. He hadn't even tried for one measly second, all he'd thought about was himself and she couldn't help but hate him a little bit for that.

'I'd better go and check on my lasagne, I know it's your favourite so I thought I'd give you a nice treat,' his mother said.

'Do you want me to give you a hand in the kitchen?' She asked and his mother accepted her offer immediately.

Leaving Jake alone in the lounge she followed her to the kitchen and started to help her. They were alone for a good while and it gave them a chance to talk which she was grateful for.

It was an hour or so later that Jake's father arrived from wherever he'd been. After his arrival they'd sat down to lunch and his parents had asked her lots of questions about her job and her life, Jake had stepped in once or twice to try and change the subject but she didn't mind answering their questions. She had nothing to hide or to be ashamed about, well apart from her stupid fucking father of course.

All in all they spent around four hours in the company of his parents before Jake went up to his room to pack a small suitcase full of clothes and toiletries. Before leaving they promised to return in a few days when all his sister's would be available to hear the news of their relationship, she was sure it would be a pretty fucking chaotic day but looked forward to it regardless.

They left the house just after four in the afternoon and arrived back outside her apartment just after five. She had been about to exit the car when Jake cursed loudly.

'Fuck! I forgot to pick up underwear!'

'How the fuck could you forget your underwear? That's the one thing you really need doofus!' She shook her head before closing the car door again.

'You go inside, I'll head back there myself,' he replied and immediately her suspicions were raised.

'No it's okay, I'll come with you, I've got nothing better to do.'

'I know this is going to sound really fucking awful but I'd rather go alone Maddie. Something was up with my mom and dad and I want to try and find out what it was, if you're there they probably won't talk to me openly you know? I mean they really like you but you're still more or less a stranger to them, they won't talk about certain stuff in front of strangers,' Maddie watched his body language as he spoke and she had no reason to suspect that he was lying. There HAD been an obvious tension between his parents and what he said made sense. There was still a tiny part of her which suspected that he wasn't going back to see his parents but a relationship was all about trust so she had no choice but to trust him.

'I guess I could make a start on dinner and get ready for bed because that's where I'm gonna take you for dessert,' she winked playfully as Jake leaned across and pressed a kiss on her chin.

'I won't be long baby, put on that red nightie of yours again, you look REALLY hot in that thing,' she smiled as he wriggled around in his seat in an attempt to hide the bulge that had popped up in his trousers.

'As you wish hot stuff, I hope everything goes okay. Call me if you need me,' pressing a quick kiss on his lips she exited the car and watched as he drove away.

She just really, really hoped that he was telling the truth about where he was going.

**Jake's POV**

The one thing that he hated doing was lying. The sad thing was that because he'd done so much of it in the past to hide his alcohol and drug problems that he'd become so good at it. He really hadn't wanted to lie to Maddie about where he was going but if he'd told her the truth he knew that she would never have let him go.

When he'd taken his suitcase out to the car and left Maddie inside talking to his parents he'd sent Edgar a text message asking him to meet up on the boat that night. He hadn't known at the time whether he would agree to turn up or not but just as he'd been walking up his parent's front path he'd replied to agree to the meeting. They'd arranged to meet at six so he didn't have much time to spare.

Over the past few days Maddie had tried to be strong but he could see through her attempts to make him believe that she was okay. Edgar's words had hurt her and he knew how much she loved and looked up to her father, she needed him in her life. That's why he'd arranged to meet Edgar in an attempt to salvage things. If he could just explain how he felt and convince him to give their relationship a chance he was sure that things would work out. He would never hurt Maddie in a million years because he loved her so much, if Edgar could see that he was willing to do anything for her then everything would be okay.

He knew it wasn't going to be easy and he sure as hell knew that he was taking a big risk by going to meet Edgar alone but he didn't see any other way of dealing with the situation. He didn't care about his job, he'd accepted that he wasn't going to get that back but he did care about Maddie. She was happy but there was something missing and that was her father's acceptance and support. She needed it and he knew that deep down Edgar needed Maddie. She was his first child. He'd been by her side for twenty five years. He couldn't just throw all that love away and not think twice about it. Even he knew that Edgar wasn't that cold and heartless.

After weaving his way through rush hour traffic, he made it to the docks with only minutes to spare. Jumping out of the car he ran as fast as he could to the Northwestern, if he were even a minute late he knew that Edgar might leave. By the time he reached the boat and jumped on board he could barely breathe but somehow he managed to stagger across the deck to try the dry room door. When it opened he knew that Edgar was already there so he forced himself inside and made his way to the galley. He found Edgar sitting at the galley table flicking his cigarette lighter, his eyes seemed to darken as he looked across the room towards him.

'Well, well, well. I'm surprised you decided to show up, thought you'd have enough sense to change your mind,' Edgar pulled out one of his cigarettes from the packet that lay on the table and brought it to his mouth to light it as he walked closer to him.

'I haven't come here to fight with you Edgar, I'm here to try and smooth things over….'

Without warning Edgar smashed his fist against the table and shot him a look that could kill. 'Smooth things over? SMOOTH THINGS OVER? You know how you can do that Junior? Keep the FUCK away from MY daughter and stop FUCKING her! THAT'S how you can smooth things over!'

He tried to keep calm as he moved ever closer to the table, if he started screaming and shouting then there would be a brawl and he hadn't come here for that. He HAD to make him see that he was in love with Maddie, he had to make him understand.

'I know you probably don't wanna hear it but I love her. I love her so much and all I wanna do from now on is protect her and make her happy. That's why I'm here! She misses you, she needs you….'

'If SHE needed me that much she would end this, this THING right now! I mean she's dated some fucking idiots in the past but this….this just really fucking stinks!'

'Look I don't expect that either of us are ever gonna be friends but we could at least try to get along for her sake….'

'Who the fuck are you trying to kid here? It makes me SICK thinking of the two of you together. My little girl, whoring herself out to some…..'

'Don't you dare talk about her like that!' He had tried desperately to keep his cool but he couldn't stand back and keep quiet when he insulted Maddie. He could throw insults at him all day but not about her.

He watched as Edgar stood up and got out from behind the table. He didn't move or flinch as he came face to face with him. 'This isn't about love, not for her or for you. She's looking for some troubled guy with a bad boy past to show her a good time, she's done this before and after you she'll do it again. She just wants to fuck you.'

A red mist glazed over him as he heard Edgar's words but he was too slow. Just as he'd clenched his fist as hard as he could Edgar's right hand landed a crunching blow to his left cheekbone that had him seeing stars. He tried to get his balance and retaliate with a punch of his own but he was on the back foot and Edgar knew it. Before he had a chance to straighten himself up Edgar grabbed him by the throat and pushed him up against one of the state room doors. 'If you wanna help Jake, leave her, NOW! Until you do I will do everything, EVERYTHING that I can to make sure she gets the fuck away from you!'

When Edgar's hands left his throat he doubled over, gasping for air to fill his lungs. He half expected him to finish things off with another punch or a kick but he didn't, he just walked away without saying another word. He'd made himself pretty clear.

**Maddie's POV**

'Jakkeeee! I have a surprise for you!' After waiting for a couple of hours her man was FINALLY back in her apartment. She'd had a shower and moisturised every single inch of her skin to make it nice and silky for her man to kiss her everywhere. She'd put on the red nightie that he loved to see her in and she'd even trimmed down below to make things a little….smoother.

She was lying back on her bed expecting him to burst through the bedroom door naked and ready to ravish her for the rest of the night but she was left disappointed when things didn't quite go that way….

'Jake! Jake come on! Don't make me use my rabbit because I will if you don't come here in one minute!' She yelled on top of her voice so that he'd definitely hear her, so would all her neighbours but to hell with them.

Nothing. She got nothing. Pulling on her dressing gown that was perched at the end of the bed she pulled open the door to her room and marched out into the lounge with every intention of letting her fiery temper loose on Jake but she came to an abrupt stop when she saw him.

He was sat on her couch staring right back at her but for the first time it wasn't his eyes that she noticed, it was the black bruise covering his left cheek.

'Oh my God Jake what happened?' She made her legs work so she could go over to him and inspect his face. The rest of it was fine but his left cheek looked so swollen and painful. 'We need to get you to the ER, this looks nasty. Let me go and change and we'll…' Before she could leave the room Jake grabbed her hand and patted the cushion next to him motioning for her to sit down.

She followed his instruction even though she was scared of what he was going to tell her. She knew that he hadn't been to his parent's place, she'd known that from the moment he'd said he was going there but she'd managed to convince herself that he was telling the truth.

'I lied to you Maddie and I'm so sorry,' he shook his head and looked down at the floor as he spoke. When he did summon up the courage to look right at her she noticed the hand prints around his neck and gasped out loud.

'Who did this to you?' Her eyes met his and she could see him hesitate. The bile rose in her throat as she began to realise what had actually happened. She had thought he'd gone out to a bar and got into a fight but just by looking at him she could tell that the reality was much worse, for her anyway. 'Tell me the truth Jake, don't lie to me!'

'I thought that I could help and somehow make things right again. I started it Maddie, it wasn't his fault,' as soon as the words stumbled from his lips she felt the anger bubble up inside her. He didn't need to mention any names, she knew who'd done this to him and she knew that Jake hadn't started it at all.

'Of ALL the fucking things he has EVER done NOTHING comes close to this! I'm gonna kill him!' Jumping off the couch she started to make her way back to her room but Jake reached her before she could get there.

'NO! No more fighting! He's your dad Maddie! I should have let things cool down for a while before being fucking stupid and thinking that I could somehow sort all this out. I was the one that contacted him and set this meeting up….'

'WHY are you defending him? Look what he's done to you Jake! How could he do this to the man I love? He should be happy for me and instead he's acting like a fucking Neanderthal caveman! I'm so sick and tired of him trying to scare people away from me and now he's gonna do all he can to scare you away too! First this then there'll be something else, then something else until eventually you'll run away and I couldn't bear that Jake! I don't wanna lose you, I love you so much, I don't want you to leave….'

'Hey!' Tears ran down her cheeks as Jake pulled her into his arms and held her close to him. 'I'm not gonna leave, I'm not gonna be scared away no matter what happens. I love you and I'm gonna be right here, I'm not afraid of your dad or anyone else. I was once but not now. I'm not going anywhere Maddie Hansen, you're stuck with me.'

She held onto him as tight as she could as her emotions continued to get the better of her. She was crying for Jake and what he'd gone through and because of what she was going to have to face up to. Her past was filled with happy memories of moments shared between her and her father but after what he'd done to Jake she knew that there wouldn't be any more happy memories to share. If her dad truly loved her he would be willing to let her go and he wasn't. He was determined to rule with an iron fist over every part of her life and now she had to be strong. Edgar Hansen was not going to break them apart no matter how hard he tried.

.


End file.
